Oblivion
by JazzieG
Summary: One of the team becomes a magnet for danger.
1. Accidental Attraction

**A/N: I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters except Jasmine. This has not been officially Beta'd, but has been read by a fellow fan of Numb3rs (whom I thank for her time and patience), however I take full responsibility for any errors. As I live in the UK some of the facts about LA may not be accurate, for this I apologise.**

Colby woke to darkness, he knew his eyes were open but he could see nothing. It seemed his whole body was in agony, he felt something trickle down his face and reached his hand up to wipe it away when his arm hit something hard above his head. Taking a steadying breath he started to feel around him. He seemed to be in a box only just slightly bigger than he was. He shook his head trying to remember what had happened to him, how had he come to be in so much pain and then shut in what amounted to a box the size of a coffin. Then it all came rushing back to him, everything that had happened in the last year, and he knew that his numb3r was up.

Chapter One – Accidental Attraction.

Colby stretched and yawned, which did not go unnoticed by his partner, David and boss, Don.

"Colby, why don't you head home, you look like you could use some sleep and you've been here over 24 hours. The paperwork can wait until tomorrow." Said Don with a look of concern.

"Yeah Granger, you're lowering the tone round here with that stubble you're sporting." Quipped David.

Colby scowled at his friend and boss, he thought about arguing but he was just too damn tired and his bed was calling to him from across town. "A shower and some sleep would be pretty good right about now." He started to clear his desk.

"You want me to drive you?" asked David.

"Nah thanks man, I'll be fine." Replied Colby as he donned his jacket. "See you tomorrow morning, thanks Don."

"No problem, I do NOT want to see you here before 08:00 tomorrow, hear me?"

Colby waved his hand in acquiescence and headed for the elevators. Once in the parking garage he slid gratefully behind the wheel of his car. _At least the upside of being here until 05:00 is that the traffic will be reasonably light heading home. _He thought to himself as he drove away from the building and turned towards Glendale.

He hadn't gone far down the 110 when he saw a couple of cars pulled over onto the shoulder, normally he wouldn't give it a second thought as accidents were a common occurrence in LA, but he could see that the drivers were out of their cars and were involved in a heated argument. Sighing with frustration, but seeing that one of the drivers was a woman on her own, he indicated and pulled over in front of the other 2 vehicles, he wanted to make sure that the woman was safe. As he carefully opened his car door he could hear the raised voices over the noise of the passing traffic.

"You stupid bitch, why didn't you look where you were going?" Yelled the man.

"It was an accident, it's not like I just decided to crash into you, for heavens' sake." Retorted the woman.

Colby could hear both fear and anger in the woman's voice, she didn't sound American, he thought her accent was English.

"Hey," he called out as he walked towards them, not wanting to startle either of them. "Is everything OK? Is anybody hurt?" as he approached he could see that there wasn't too much damage to either car.

The man shot him a look of annoyance. " Yeah, everything's fine, get back in your car and be on your way."

Colby sized the man up, he was a couple of inches taller than Colby, but with his training he knew that the man was not a threat unless he was carrying a weapon. The man's dark brown eyes met Colby's green ones daring him to come closer. When he turned to the woman she looked at him with some degree of relief. "Ma'am are you OK?" he asked gently.

"I was just trying to explain to this _gentleman_ that this was merely an accident and we should exchange details, but it seems he would rather waste his time arguing." Clearly with someone else present the woman was feeling a little braver. The man started to open his mouth when Colby cut him off. "Look it appears that neither of you are injured and there is minimal damage to the cars, just exchange details and then you can both be on your way."

"What has this got to do with you? I thought I told you to get back in your car and go away?" said the man angrily.

Colby sighed, he had not wanted to use his badge to resolve this situation, but this guy was just not going to settle down. He put his hand into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out his FBI credentials. "Sir, I am with the FBI, I observed that the 2 of you seemed to be in difficulty and stopped to help, that is all. I don't want any trouble and would be happy to assist and get you both on your way."

On seeing Colby's badge the man simmered down somewhat and begrudgingly he took the pen and paper offered to him to enable him to write his details for the woman who had ruined his day. Once done he handed over the pad and pen to the woman who did the same. Details swapped the man threw Colby a dirty look and got into his car and merged with the traffic on the freeway. Both the woman and Colby let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much for stopping, he was really beginning to frighten me." Stated the woman.

Colby looked at her more closely, she appeared to be in her early 30's, she had brown hair and blue/green eyes and was clearly considerably shaken by her ordeal. "Ma'am you are welcome, can I call someone for you?"

"Please, my name is Jasmine Fuller, call me Jasmine, and no, there is nobody you can call, thank you though." The woman held her hand out to her rescuer.

"Colby Granger." He replied as he took her hand and found her grip to be firm. "You don't have any friends or family I can call for you?"

"I just got out of a very bad marriage and other than my soon to be ex-husband my family are in the UK, all my friends will be working, but really I'm fine."

Colby smiled at the woman's frank response. He hesitated a moment and then pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to her. "If you have any problems sorting this out, give me a call, if I can help then I will."

Jasmine gave him a grateful smile and took the card. "Thank you Agent Granger."

"You can call me Colby."

"OK, Colby."

"Now are you sure you're OK to drive Jasmine?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine now, it was just a little bump after all."

Colby held her door open for her and watched as she settled herself back into the driver's seat. "Drive safely."

"I will, thanks again Colby." And with that she drove off.

Colby got back in his car shaking his head. _Trust me to come across a damsel in distress when all I want is to go home, shower and sleep. _He thought to himself. With that he continued his journey home with no further interruptions to his plans. An hour later he was stretched out on his bed snoring softly and sleeping like a baby.

Jasmine made it safely back to her house and sighed. That was one strange experience. She manages to get in an argument over a car accident and is rescued by a gorgeous FBI agent, _not bad going_, she thought to herself. She spoke to her insurance company and sorted out getting the minimal damage to her car fixed and then settled down with a glass of orange juice by her pool, wondering what she could do to thank her knight in shining armour.

Next morning Colby arrived at the FBI offices just before 08:00 feeling refreshed.

"Hey Colby, did you have a good rest?" asked Megan, the other member of Don's team.

"Hi Megan, yeah when I finally made it home."

"What do you mean?" asked Don as he and David walked up behind them.

He proceeded to tell them about Jasmine and the car accident.

"Man, Granger, how do you get yourself in these situations?" asked David with a smile.

Colby just shrugged, he knew he had a reputation for getting into difficult situations, but he also had one for getting himself back out of them again.

The team settled at their desks and started to attempt to clear the backlog of paperwork that had piled up from their last case.

An hour later one of the team from reception came up looking for Colby.

"Agent Granger?"

Colby hadn't seen the receptionist approach, so absorbed was he by the paperwork.

"Hi Anne, can I help you with something?"

"This was just delivered downstairs for you."

Colby looked at it warily, a package he wasn't expecting could NOT be good news.

"Don't look so worried, it's been scanned and it's harmless." Anne smiled.

"Oh, OK, thanks for bringing it up." Colby smiled back as he took the package from her and she walked back towards the elevators.

"Come on Colby, what is it? Don't keep us in suspense."

"Megan, don't be nosey." Responded Colby.

"If you don't tell us we're just going to come to our own conclusions." Chimed in David.

Colby sighed and took his knife out of his pocket and cut the tape on the box and peered in. He shook his head and gave the rest of the team a bemused look.

"Er, it's muffins."

"Muffins? As in the cakes?" asked Don.

"Yup." Replied Colby as he removed the muffin basket from the safety of it's box.

"Who would send you muffins?"

"No idea."

"Read the card then." Said Megan rolling her eyes. She liked Granger, but sometimes he could be a little slow.

Colby shot Megan a look that spoke volumes as he removed the small card from it's envelope.

Colby,

Thank you for being my knight in shining armour when I needed one.

Jasmine.

As he read the card his cheeks reddened.

"Awww look he's blushing." Said David

"Red cheeks are not a good look for you Colby." Laughed Don.

"Do you want to share these muffins or shall I just eat them all myself, 'cos keep it up and that's exactly what's gonna happen." Said Colby.

"So, knight in shining armour eh? Must be from the lady he rescued on the freeway."

"Do you always read other people's cards Megan?"

"Only if you're dumb enough to leave it laying around!"

Colby sighed and rolled his eyes, he'd never learn. "Go on, help yourselves."

The team smiled and everyone reached into the basket and took one.

"Who wants coffee?" asked Colby as he stood up, taking the basket with him. He'd leave them in the break room for other agents to share. Even he couldn't really eat 24 muffins.

Exchanging looks the team all shook their head at Colby's offer and went back to doing paperwork, they didn't want to risk him having to make a new pot. Colby's coffee making was also legendary in the LA office.

"OK guys, time for a break, how about heading out for some lunch?" asked Don.

His team all looked at him thankfully, the last case had been a rough one and the paperwork always took almost as long as the case, everyone grabbed their jackets and headed out into the sunshine.

None of the team noticed the figure watching them from the other side of the street, they were too caught up in teasing one another and discussing where to go for lunch.


	2. Breakfast

**Disclaimer: As previously stated I do not own Numb3rs or any characters associated with it.**

Chapter Two – Breakfast.

A few days after his encounter on the Freeway Colby was sitting at his desk in the FBI offices when his cell rang.

"Granger."

"Hi Colby, it's Jasmine Fuller."

"Hi Jasmine, how are you? Thank you for the muffins by the way."

"Oh, you're welcome. Look I'm really sorry to bother you but would you have time to meet me for breakfast?"

"Er, well I am at work right now, hang on a sec…" Colby turned to Don "Would it be OK if I head out for a bit?"

Don glanced at him curiously but replied "Yeah sure, there isn't much happening here at the moment, make sure you keep your cell on you and I'll call if I need you back here."

Colby turned back to his phone. "Jasmine, yes I can meet you. There is a place on West 3rd Street…"

"Toast Bakery Café, yes I know it."

"I can be there in 20 minutes, can you make it for then?"

"Yes, I'll see you then, and Colby, thank you." With that Jasmine rang off.

As he closed his phone he turned to find himself being scrutinised by his team mates.

"Jasmine as in the lady from the Freeway accident?" asked David.

Colby nodded "She sounded upset, I'm wondering if the guy from the accident has been bothering her."

"Only one way to find out." Responded Megan.

Colby nodded, grabbed his keys and headed out.

"You don't think he's getting into something over his head do you?" asked David, concerned.

"I am sure he'll be fine, if he needs our help he'll ask." Replied Don.

"Are we talking about the same Colby Granger, who's middle name might as well be hard headed and stubborn?" asked David, wryly.

Colby walked into the café 15 minutes later to find Jasmine already seated at a table sipping a coffee.

"Hi, thanks for meeting me. You hardly know me and here I am calling you out of the blue…"

He held up his hand to stop her. "It's ok, I gave you my card so you could call if there was a problem after the accident."

"It's not about the accident." She stopped as a waitress approached to take Colby's order.

"I'll have a coffee and some French toast please." The waitress nodded and went to fill his request.

He turned back to Jasmine and when he looked more carefully he could see she had been crying.

"What is it, what's happened?" he asked softly.

"I feel awful dragging you into this, but I didn't know who else to turn to, you were so helpful and kind the other day." She paused again as the waitress brought over Colby's order and watched him put sugar and milk in his coffee and start on his French toast, he motioned for her to continue, watching her intently, letting her know he was listening to her. "I told you I had just got out of a very bad marriage, well my husband has started causing problems for me. He's a very powerful man, physically and financially. I went to go home last night and he was parked outside my house, across the gate, preventing me from getting in."

"Did you call the police?"

"No, I was frightened of what he would do if I did."

"Jasmine, where did you sleep last night?"

"I went to a hotel, I went home this morning thinking he would be gone, but he wasn't, at least his car was still parked across the gate, I was too scared to get out and see if he was still about."

"OK, gimme a minute." With that Colby finished his breakfast and walked out of the café, pulling his phone out.

"Eppes."

"Don, it's Colby. This thing may take a bit longer than I thought, is that OK or do you need me back at the office?"

"That's fine, anything I can do to help?"

"Not at the moment, thanks man."

"OK, call if that changes."  
"Will do." Colby hung up and headed back into the café, paid the bill and went back to Jasmine. "Did you drive here?"

"Yes, my car is in the lot."

"OK, we'll go back to the office, I'll pick up my car and follow you home and we'll try to sort this out."

"Oh, you don't have to do that, I was looking for a little advice, that's all."

"Look, this guy may still be there, I want to help and at the moment this is the best way."

"OK." They got up together, headed for her car and did as he had suggested.

Once in his car Colby followed her out of the built up area and along Laurel Canyon Road ending up turning into Canton Drive. He pulled up in the street behind her and got out and she joined him.

"My house is the next one along, his car is still there."

"OK, what's his name?"

"Jason Rutherford."

"Get back in your car and lock the doors." Once he was sure she had done as she was told he headed in the direction she had indicated. He was wondering if maybe he should have had Don check the husband out, but it was too late now as he noticed a man approaching him from the other side of the car that was parked blocking the entrance to Jasmine's drive.

Uneasily Colby reached under his jacket and released the clip holding his gun in place in it's holster.

"Mr Rutherford?"

"Who's askin'?"

"I am Sir."

"And who would you be?"

"I'm a friend of Ms Fuller's."

"Where's the bitch at? That her in that car?"

Colby winced at his language, but held his tongue not wanting to inflame the situation. Thanks to his stupidity, not running a background check, he had no idea what this man was capable of.

"Tell her to get her ass out here and talk to me." Rutherford continued.

"Sir that is not going to happen, I must ask you to leave the premises."

"Is that right? You going to make me?"

"I am an FBI agent and I will not hesitate to arrest you and turn you over to the LAPD should it become necessary." He said showing the other man his badge.

"Arrest me for what?"

"Trespass for one. Harassment. And anything else I can think of." Colby was beginning to lose his patience.

"I suppose she's been telling you that I'm a nasty piece of work and that she's scared of me huh? Well, man, let me tell you, if you're getting involved with that bitch you wanna watch your back, she's the nasty piece of work."

"Mr Rutherford, I will not ask you again, get in your car and leave."

Jasmine was watching this unfold from the car and could do nothing to help. She watched in horror as Jason stepped up to Colby and before the agent had time to pull his weapon or react, punched him hard in the face.

Colby staggered slightly from the impact but remained on his feet, before Jason could take another swing Colby had the larger man in front of him with his arm up at an awkward angle behind his back without even throwing a punch.

"Mr Rutherford you just assaulted a Federal Officer, I am placing you under arrest." Colby read Jason his rights, then handcuffed him and sat him in the back of his car, he picked up his phone and called dispatch asking for an LAPD unit and a tow truck for the car.

He turned back towards Jasmine as she got out of the car.

"Why don't you head into the house, I'll be in once LAPD have taken this guy in and his car has been towed."

"Your eye.." she started to say.

"It's fine, I've had worse, please go inside."

Jasmine headed towards the house as he said, as she did so she heard Jason screaming that he was going to get her for what she was putting him through, this threat caused her to pick up her pace.

Half an hour later Colby pulled her car into her driveway and walked up to the house, Jasmine greeted him at the door and invited him in.

"LAPD have taken him to be processed and towed the car to the impound lot, he'll be charged with assault, they recommend you get a Temporary Restraining Order against him, then if he comes near you again they'll be able to arrest him for breaching the order. Do you have a lawyer?"

"Yes, I do. I'll call him in a minute, come with me."

Colby followed her towards the back of the large house and into a kitchen.

"Sit down."

"I really should get back to work…"

"Not until I've given you something to help reduce the swelling round that eye." This said she handed him an ice pack. "You sit there with that for a few and I'll go call my lawyer."

Whilst he was waiting for her to return his phone rang.

"Granger."

"Colby, what the hell happened, I just had a call from Lieutenant Walker over at LAPD saying one of the patrols had been out to pick up some lowlife who had assaulted a federal officer, imagine his surprise, and mine, when he heard it was you!" Don did not sound happy.

"The guy is Jasmine's estranged husband, he was blocking her drive and had been since last night, I escorted her home and he was still here, he didn't want to leave."

"How did he come to assault you, are you OK?"

"I'm fine, he punched me, that's all."

"I told you to call if you needed help." Said an exasperated Don.

"I didn't think I did! Hang on a minute, how did Walker find out, he's on the Organised Crime unit." Said Colby with a sinking feeling.

"Uh huh, the guy that punched you, Jason Rutherford, he is a person of interest to the Organised Crime Unit."  
"Oh."

"Yes, oh. You better get back here, you have some explaining to do." With that Don hung up before Colby could reply.

Just then Jasmine walked back into the room and saw Colby hanging up the phone.

"Everything OK?"

"Did you know your husband was of interest to the Organised Crime unit?"

She nodded "I left him as soon as I found out. I'm sorry I should have told you."

Colby's expression was thunderous "Yes you should have, this could have turned out a whole lot different. Dammit Jasmine."

"I didn't think you'd help me if I told you."

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Of course I would have, I would just have been better prepared." At the look of anguish on her face he softened his tone. "It's OK, what did your lawyer say?"

"He's filing the TRO as we speak."

"Good. Now I have to get back to work and get my ass chewed off by an angry Don Eppes." He sighed and handed her the ice pack he had been using.

"Colby, I will understand if you say no, but would you come over for dinner tonight? I feel safer with you here and I'd like to do something to say thank you for all you've done."

"That's not necessary."  
"I know, but I'd like to."

"Yeah OK, but just as friends Jasmine."  
"I understand. Come by about 7pm."  
"See you then."

"Thanks again Colby." With that he left and she watched him walk out the electronic gates and closed them behind him and locked her front door. She allowed herself a small smile as she walked towards the kitchen to plan for dinner.


	3. Champagne Dinner

**Disclaimer: As before I own nothing to do with Numb3rs, I have "borrowed" the characters temporarily. Jasmine is still my creation. **

**Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter Three – Champagne Dinner.

Colby walked slowly into the bullpen, he was in no hurry to get his dressing down from his boss.

Don, David and Megan looked up as he walked into the cubicle area shared by the team.

"Jesus Granger, that is gonna be one nasty black eye!" Stated Megan trying not to laugh at the look off trepidation on the young man's face.

David just shook his head in disbelief that someone had actually got the jump on Colby.

"War room, now." Said Don as he got up and walked away from his desk.

A dejected Colby followed him obediently. He closed the door behind him and stood to face his boss.

"What were you thinking, going into a situation like that blind? What if the guy had a gun or had other people with him? Instead of standing here chewing you out I could be down at the morgue identifying your body." Don ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"I'm sorry Don."  
"That doesn't cut it Colby, you know better than this. You're a good agent, no a great agent, with the potential to be one of the best I've worked with, but you get emotionally involved like this and common sense goes out the window."

"You're right, but I couldn't stand by and do nothing, it wasn't FBI business so I didn't want to get you involved."  
"Next time, come to me, let me decide if I want to get involved. We're a team, Colby, and everything that implies, we have each others backs _all_ of the time, and that includes in personal situations. Stop thinking that you can do everything yourself. You screw up like this again and I'll put you on 2 weeks suspension, unpaid, is that clear?"

"Crystal."

Sighing Don looked at his agent. "Get yourself down to the medics and get something to put on that eye, don't want anyone thinking I did that!"

Colby gave a small smile. He nodded and Colby walked out of the war room, putting a hand on Don's arm as he walked passed "Sorry Boss." Then he left in search of a medic to get another ice pack from, in truth his eye was beginning to hurt.

Jasmine changed her outfit for the third time that evening. Colby is gorgeous but she really didn't want him to think that she was out to snag herself a new man. She was hungry for male company, that's true, but not in a sexual way, necessarily. She finally settled on a pair of casual linen trousers and a white off the shoulder top. She sprayed her favourite perfume and walked downstairs in bare feet and headed to the kitchen where she put the finishing touches to a simple meal of salmon, potatoes and salad. She put a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket next to the table outside and lit the candles. Just then the bell chimed. She looked at the video viewer for the camera by the gate and saw Colby in his car, she pressed a button and the gate opened. She walked out to the front of the house to meet him.

"Hey Colby."

"Hi Josie." He replied getting out of his car. "You look lovely."

"Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself, though that eye looks sore."

"It's nothing, it looks worse than it is." He responded.

She smiled and signalled for him to follow her back into the house. She gave him the briefest of tours round the downstairs before heading out to the backyard.

"Would you mind opening the champagne for me?"

He shook his head as she handed him the bottle, which he deftly opened and poured. He handed her a glass and she raised hers in a toast.

"To new friends." He smiled and returned the toast. "Please sit down, dinner is almost ready." She turned back to the kitchen and dished the food up onto the plates which she brought out and placed on the table. There was a companionable silence as they settled down to eat.

"So what have you been up to today?" he asked.

"Not a great deal, I have to admit, relaxed by the pool mainly. How did it go with your boss?"

"I still have a bit of ass for him to chew off the next time I screw up! To be fair to him I deserved it, I should have spoken to him before heading over here with you and told him what was going on."

"I'm sorry to have gotten you into trouble"

"I think it's safe to say I manage to do that by myself most of the time, I don't need your help." He smiled

"What did you do before you were in the FBI?"

"I was in the Army, Special Forces and then CID. I did a tour in Afghanistan and after an incident involving an RPG I was discharged. When I got home the FBI seemed a natural place for me to end up."

"Do you enjoy working at the FBI?"

"I love it." His eyes shone as he spoke about his work. "The team I'm working with are great. Our boss, Don, has a brother, Charlie, a mathematician, who consults with us and we're actually like part of his extended family. Don and Charlie's Dad is like a surrogate father."

"A mathematician consults on cases?" She asked, astounded.

"Yeah, I know it's hard to believe, but Charlie has pulled us outta the fire with his expressions and equations on more than one occasion."

"So how many other members of the team are there?"

"Well there's David, he's my partner and Megan, she's a profiler. She keeps us all in line." He smiled fondly.

"Must be nice to feel that the people you work with are like family."

"Yeah, it is. My family are so far away and my Dad died when I was 15, but that's enough about me, what about you?"

"I went to visit my family in the UK a few months ago after I split up with Jason. My parents never liked him, nor he them, and we didn't talk much whilst I was with him. They were pleased he was out of my life but they have no desire to travel out here to visit at the moment."

"Have you thought about moving back?"

"Oh yeah, at my lowest moments, sure. I love it here though. I miss my family, including my two older brothers, but my life is here now."

"What about friends?"

"Most of them are married with children so it's rare for them to have a night free, and Jason didn't really like me going out unless it was with him."

"I've said it before, I'll say it again, it's hard to meet people in LA." He states.

She smiled and nodded. "Anyway enough of that, would you like some dessert? I have strawberry cheesecake."

"That would be lovely, thanks." She started to clear the table, he picked up his plate and followed her into the kitchen. "I have really enjoyed tonight Jasmine, it's nice to talk to a woman and there be no expectations."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." She handed him some cheesecake and they headed back outside to finish the meal.

They spent the next hour laughing, telling each other stories about their childhood, during which time she had consumed most of the bottle of champagne, which made Colby a little uncomfortable as she kept leaning into him and rubbing his arm. He decided it was time for him to leave before she said or did something she would regret later.

"Sorry Jasmine, I really need to head home, I have an early start tomorrow. Thank you for a lovely evening."

"Oh, are you sure you can't stay, or how about coming by in the morning for breakfast?" Jasmine pouted a little.

"I have a previous engagement tomorrow morning, I can't, I have to be in the office early to take a statement from a witness in the case we've just wrapped up and there is nobody else as they're all working a new drug ring case."

"Oh, OK, thank you for coming Colby. Maybe we can do this again sometime?"

"Yeah, maybe."

She watched as he drove off into the night and sighed.

_I wish he wanted more than friendship, he's a nice guy. _She headed to the kitchen to load the dishwasher and clear up before heading to bed.


	4. Engagement

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Jasmine is mine.**

**This is the start of some Colby whumping, I make no apologies for that! There may also be some liberties taken with medical and tactical situations, if I mess it up too badly please feel free to correct me! Enjoy.**

Chapter Four – Engagement.

"Charlie, what can you tell us about where these robbers are gonna hit next?" asked Don.

"Well I plotted all the previous robberies on a map and using those to define the area I believe that Bank of America has the highest probability of being next. I also determined that, in all likelihood, they will hit again this morning." Charlie pointed to the area on the map.

"Good job. Everyone gear up and be ready to head out in 15."

Everyone nodded and headed out.

Colby pulled up near the bank. "Let's head inside and wait for our hapless duo." He said, turning to David.

As they entered the building Don's voice came over their ear pieces. "Heads up, looks like our guys, two men, in their 20's wearing khaki trousers and blue shirts. I am sure I don't need to remind you that this pair have a lot of firepower, so be careful."

"Copy that Don, we see 'em." Replied David quietly, as he and Colby separated out.

The robbers would have no idea that the staff behind the counter were actually armed undercover agents, leaving David and Colby to protect the customer's remaining inside if it became necessary.

They watched the two suspected armed robbers enter the building, followed shortly after by Megan and Don.

Before anyone could do anything the two armed men had pulled out their weapons and were firing into the ceiling, this was quickly followed by shouts of "FBI, drop your weapons."

Both Colby and David stepped towards the men, who cornered did the unthinkable and opened fire on the two agents, they both dropped to the ground and before they could return fire watched as the two robbers fell as other agents fired in response.

A deathly silence spread throughout the bank, all that could be heard for a few seconds was a woman sobbing, and then all hell broke loose as agents rushed to both the robbers, Colby and David.

David was already getting unsteadily to his feet, he turned to look at his partner, who was laying face down, and realised he wasn't getting up.

"Colby!" He knelt down, grabbed his wrist and sighed with relief as he felt a pulse. "Man, can you hear me?" The response was a groan, not quite what David had hoped for but it was a start. Don and Megan arrived by his side.

"Colby are you hit?"

"Vest." Was all Colby could manage. Megan didn't wait to hear anymore and dashed off to get the attention of the SWAT medic.

Don helped David roll him onto his back, eliciting another groan out of Colby. They carefully sat him up as Megan arrived back with Brian Jones, one of the FBI medics.

"OK, let me take a look at him." Brian helped Colby to remove his shirt and Kevlar vest. "Bullet didn't penetrate the vest." He could almost feel the team around him relax, he checked under the t-shirt the agent had been wearing under his vest and gave Colby's rib area, where the bullet had struck, a gentle prod.

"Ouch."

"Yup, he's gonna have a nice bruise there, but he'll live." He handed Colby an instant ice pack and turned to Don. "I suggest you send him home for 24 hours, he'll be sore, but no permanent damage."

Colby opened his mouth to protest. "Oh no Granger, Medic's orders. David, take him home please, I don't want to see you until tomorrow afternoon Colby."

David nodded and led an unhappy Colby out of the bank into a media frenzy. "Dammit." The two men hurried away from the bank as quickly as Colby could manage, but not before their faces were all over the news.

Colby thanked David for the ride and assured his partner that he would be fine. He walked up to his apartment cursing himself for getting shot, even if it was his vest that was hit. He unlocked his door and threw his keys on the table in the hallway, at that moment his phone rang.

"Granger." He answered brusquely.

"Colby, I thought you were taking a witness statement this morning?"

"Jasmine, I was…"

"How come I just saw you on the news coming out of a bank following an armed robbery, with a man I assume to be David, no less? You told me that the rest of the team were working a drug ring."

"They were, this bank robbery came up out of nowhere and…"

The next thing Colby knew he was listening to a dial tone. He didn't know what to make of what had just happened.

Jasmine was eating a late breakfast whilst watching the news when she saw Colby and David walking out of a bank following an armed robbery. She couldn't believe he had lied to her about where he was going to be that morning. If he didn't want to see her, why didn't he just say so.

_That is no way for him to treat me. I don't know who he thinks he is. I swore no man would ever treat me badly again. I will not let another man break my heart._

"Morning man, how's the ribs?"

"Hey David, tender, but it's only been a coupla days."

Just then Colby's phone rang. "Oh, hi Jasmine, how are you? I'm fine thanks. OK, I'll meet you there at 7pm tonight. No, I don't mind you calling but I really do have to get back to work."

David raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Colby had told him what Jasmine's reaction had been to seeing him on the news, he hoped his friend knew what he was doing.

Colby walked into the bar he had agreed to meet Jasmine at just after 7pm. She was sat at the bar with her shoulders hunched over, she looked up as he approached.

"Hi, thanks for meeting me, can I get you a drink?"

"Thanks, I'll have a beer please." The barman placed one in front of Colby. "So what do you want Jasmine?"

"I wanted to apologise, I don't know why I behaved the way I did after seeing you on the news."

"Look, I have to admit I was a bit surprised, it's not like we're dating, but what I told you was the truth. I did have to be in the office early to see a witness, but I finished with it early and Don's brother had come up with a location for some armed robbers, that meant the drug case took a back seat until these guys were apprehended."

"I guess I'm so used to being lied to that I don't know when someone is telling the truth anymore." She said sadly.

"I'm many things, Jasmine, but despite popular opinion I am not a player and I don't lie."

Jasmine nodded "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and we can still be friends."

Colby looked at her carefully "Sure, we can be friends Jasmine, but that's it for me."

"OK, friends it is." She smiled at Colby and they talked for nearly an hour, clearing the air between them.

"Right, I better get going. Thanks for the drink."

"You're welcome. Take care, call me if you want to go for a drink sometime."

"I will, you take care too Jasmine."


	5. Flowers

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters from Numb3rs. Jasmine is a figment of my imagination.**

**Thank you for the reviews and story alerts thus far and I hope you find the story worthy of your interest!**

Chapter Five – Flowers.

Colby stood staring at his apartment door. "What the hell is this?" he asked nobody in particular. Nailed to his door was a funeral wreath of flowers. He looked around for a sign that it was someone's idea of a practical joke, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He slipped his key into the lock. He checked to make sure nobody had been in his home, when he was satisfied it was safe, he placed his gun on the hall table, only then did he see the note laying on the floor inside the doorway. He opened the note, it said:

**You're a dead man.**

Colby blanched at the sight of the bold black lettering, he knew that this was a threat, not a joke. Nobody he knew would find this remotely funny.

He took out his phone and pressed speed dial number 1.

"Eppes."

"It's Colby."

Immediately on the alert at the sound of his agent's voice "What's up?"

"I, er, it may be nothing but, I er…" Colby stammered, he didn't want his boss to think he was some kind of drama queen.

"Spit it out." Demanded Don.

"I met Jasmine for a drink and I just got back to my apartment and there is a funeral wreath tacked to my door and a note saying you're a dead man. I'm sure it's nothing but…."

"If you thought it was nothing then you wouldn't be calling me on your night off. I'll be there in 30." With that Don hung up and Colby breathed a sigh of relief.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colby watched Don pull into the parking lot and walked out into the hallway to meet him.

"Hey, Don, sorry to call you…."

Don cut him off before he could finish. "Colby, it's fine, I don't like the sound of this. Show me." He led his boss back down the hallway of his first floor apartment and showed him the wreath tacked to the door, then silently passed him the note. Don pulled on a pair of gloves before taking it from his youngest team member. A look of concern crossed his face. "Have you noticed anything suspicious, anyone hanging around or following you?"

Colby shook his head, just then he noticed another car pull into the lot below and watched as David and Megan got out. He turned to look at Don. "Yup I called David and Megan. In light of the drugs related case we've been working I figured it couldn't hurt to take a closer look at this."

Colby wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried that his boss was taking this seriously.

When David and Megan entered the apartment they both glanced at him with concern as Don handed them the note.

"Do you really think this could be related to our investigation of the drug ring?" David asked him.

"I dunno but I am not willing to take any chances. Can you run this to the office and get one of the techs to check for fingerprints. Megan speak to the building supervisor, see if he's noticed anyone hanging around. Colby and I will speak with some of his neighbours." His team nodded and left to carry out the tasks they had been given.

An hour later Megan, Colby and Don sat in his sitting room.

"Supervisor hasn't noticed anyone strange but has promised to keep his eye out."

"Yeah same response from my neighbours. Sorry guys, this all just feels like such a waste of time." Colby looked embarrassed.

"Look at me." Said Megan "You have nothing to be sorry for, you did the right thing. OK?"

He nodded though still didn't look convinced, before Don could comment his phone rang. "Hi David… Nothing? OK, call it a night and head home, we'll see you tomorrow." He glanced at the remaining team members. "The techs found no fingerprints, perp musta worn gloves. They're doing some more tests and will have more in the morning. In the meantime, Colby perhaps you should stay somewhere else."

Colby shook his head. "No, I'm good."  
"OK, but call if you need to, you hear."

"Yeah, I will." Colby locked his door behind them, sighed and headed to bed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey man."

David glanced up from his computer screen. "Hey, you look like shit."

"Thanks, I feel so much better now. Didn't get much sleep." Replied Colby

"Not surprising." Said Megan coming into their cubicle followed closely by Don.

"Spoke to the techs, not only were there no prints, but the paper was standard printing paper which can be purchased at any stationery store. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about it." Said Don.

"Figured as much." Responded Colby. "Anything on the wreath?"

Megan shook her head. "Nope, the design is a common one used by lots of undertakers and florists in the LA area."

"Well that brings us nicely to a dead end."

"For the time being at least, but I want you all to be extra vigilant and report anything out of the ordinary immediately." Stated Don.

The others nodded their agreement.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night Colby met Jasmine for a drink, and told her all about the wreath.

"That's creepy, does that sort of thing happen a lot in your line of work?"

"Nope, first time in 3 years."

"What did Don say?"

"He's told us we all need to be extra vigilant, but there isn't a great deal anyone can do."

"Well just be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He smiled. "How are things with you?"

"I've heard nothing more from Jason since my lawyer filed the TRO and I've been looking at some premises to start up my own boutique. It's something I always wanted to do, but Jason preferred it if I stayed home."

"It's good that you're looking for something to do that you enjoy."

"Oh man, is that the time, sorry Colby I have to go, I'm meeting some friends for dinner."

"No worries. See you around."

"Take care." With that Jasmine left the bar.


	6. Glass

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Jasmine is still mine. **

**Thanks for reading, constructive reviews always welcome.**

Chapter Six – Glass.

Two weeks later Colby threw himself down in his chair and dropped the mail that he had picked up from his box at the apartment on his desk.

"Hey, did you manage to get any sleep?" asked David,

"Hi, nope. You?"

"A couple of hours. This surveillance for this drug ring is really messing with my sleep!"

Colby just nodded in agreement and closed his eyes for a few minutes.

"Morning guys. Did you get anything from last nights surveillance?"

"Nah, zip. How long are we going to keep this up for Megan?"

"Until we get something we can use or Don puts us on another case."

"Stop moping Granger, I'm gonna be a kind boss and let you have tonight off."

Colby's eyes shot open and he saw Don standing beside their cubicle. "Oh, hey Don."

Don merely grinned, he knew that spending night after night sitting in the back of a van waiting for something to happen was nobody's idea of a good time and certainly not David or Colby's.

"You can spend today catching up on paperwork."

"Can I go back to the van and do another 24 hours of surveillance?" asked Colby groaning.

"You wanted the life of an FBI agent, this is it. Heart stopping paperwork and surveillance." Chuckled David.

Colby snorted and turned to the pile of mail he had laid on his desk just a few minutes ago. Was it really only a few minutes ago though? To him it seemed like hours, he was so tired he could barely focus.

_Bill, bill, another bill _thought Colby as he opened the letters and stacked them in the order that they needed to be paid. The last envelope was an A4 brown, heavily padded, envelope. He had no idea what it was and only half paid attention as he opened it and put his hand inside without looking. His right hand closed around some tissue paper and he gripped the contents firmly before registering a stabbing pain in his hand and wrist. He let out a loud yell.

"What's up?" David span round in his chair to face his partner's desk.

Colby turned round and slowly took his hand out of the envelope, blood pouring from his hand and wrist.

"What the…" Was all Don got out before Megan grabbed Colby's hand and raised it trying to slow the flow of blood.

She turned to Don "He's got broken glass embedded in his hand and wrist."

David picked up the phone and asked reception to locate a medic and send them to the 7th floor immediately.

Charlie, who had just walked into the bullpen, rushed to the break room and came back with a clean towel.

Megan gently wrapped the towel round Colby's wrist to stop the blood running down the young agent's arm. She looked at him with concern, he had gone a distinct shade of grey.

"Colby, it's going to be ok."

He just looked at her and nodded.

At that moment Brian Jones appeared at the bank of elevators, Don stood up. "Over here Brian."

The SWAT medic took in the scene before him shaking his head. "Bruised ribs not enough for you Granger? How did this happen?"

"I just put my hand in that envelope and put my hand round something wrapped in tissue paper, next thing I know I've got blood pouring down my arm." Colby pointed to the envelope he had put back on his desk.

Don pulled on a pair of gloves and picked up the A4 padded envelope. Colby's home address was on a printed label on the front. "I'll take this to the lab and get them to have a look."

Brian moved Megan to one side to allow him to get a better look. "Well the glass has to come out and I'm not equipped to do that, it's the ER for you this time."

Don was expecting Colby to argue, but he didn't, so he turned to the medic. "Do we need to call for an ambulance or can one of us just take him?"

"If one of you can drive I'll come with you, I just need to call and let Tim know what's going on."

David picked up his car keys whilst Brian called his team leader, Tim King. "OK, let's go." Brian put a steadying hand under Colby's arm and helped him to his feet and they headed for the elevators and down to the garage, whilst Don and Megan headed for the lab, leaving Charlie behind in the cubicle to wait.

Brian helped Colby get into David's car and put his seatbelt on.

"No blood in the car Granger, or you clean it." Teased David.

"Yeah, yeah, your concern overwhelms me." Retorted Colby.

He looked at Brian and then at his right hand "How bad is it?"

"It's hard to tell, I know the bleeding looks bad but I don't think the glass has cut any major blood vessels. I think at least one bit of glass has gone into your palm quite deep. The hospital will probably want to x-ray your hand before cleaning it up."

Colby was not reassured, in fact if anything he was even greyer.

They pulled up outside the ER and Brian helped Colby extricate himself from the car without knocking his hand and walked him in whilst David went to park.

Brian managed to get the immediate attention of a nurse who took one look at the blood soaked towel wrapped round Colby's wrist and ushered them straight through to a trauma room to see a doctor.

By the time David joined them Colby was laying on a bed and was nearly as white as the sheet he was laying on and a nurse was carefully picking out pieces of glass.

"How is he?"

"As I thought no major blood vessels damaged, the nurse is just taking out the larger pieces of glass before taking him to x-ray to check for any smaller pieces that may be under the skin."

Colby chose that moment to swear. He looked at the nurse "Sorry but that hurts." She shrugged, she had heard worse. "I think I'll leave that one there until we've got x-rays as it seems to be quite deeply embedded." With that she grabbed a porter, helped Colby into a wheelchair and he was whisked off to have the x-rays done, leaving the other two men to wait for his return. David took the opportunity to call Don to give him an update on Colby's condition.

As Colby was wheeled back into the cubicle and helped onto the bed Brian spoke.

"How you feeling? How's the pain?"

"I feel like I have a ton of glass in my hand!" snapped Colby

"Colby!" Chastised David.

"Sorry Brian, to be honest I feel really sick and a bit light headed. As for the pain, it's not off the charts though I could have done without the nurse digging around in the wounds."

Just as Brian was about to respond a doctor walked into the cubicle.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Jensen, let's have a look at these x-rays." The nurse had put them up on the light box ready. "Hmmm…"

Colby looked from Brian and David to the Doctor. "What's the verdict?"

"Well there are a few small shards which we will get rid of when we irrigate the wounds, however this big piece in the middle of your palm is going to need a bit more assistance." Replied Dr Jensen, he turned to look at the man laying on the bed. "I understand the nurse has already tried to remove it without success." Colby nodded. "In that case I think we will need to inject a local anaesthetic into the area to numb it and allow us to manoeuvre the piece out, we'll then clean the wounds and stitch any that require it. OK, any questions?"

Colby shook his head, he was feeling quite sick and was worried that if he opened his mouth he would throw up all over the good doctor.

Brian followed the Doctor out of the room as he went to get the necessary equipment organised.

"Doc, I don't mean to stick my nose in, I'm the FBI Medic that attended to Colby at the scene, he told me he's feeling nauseous and light headed, not to mention he hasn't had any pain relief since this happened. Can you arrange for him to get something?"

Dr Jensen looked at the medic and smiled. "Of course. I'll ask the nurse to bring him something before we start the procedure."

"Thanks." He ducked back into the cubicle.

"Everything OK?" asked David.

The nurse came in at that moment carrying some water and pills.

"Here you are Agent Granger, some pain relief and something to help with the nausea."

Colby took the medicine from her and swallowed it gratefully, hoping that he didn't throw it straight back up. Once the nurse was satisfied that her patient was once again as comfortable as he could be she went in search of the doctor.

"Right, are you ready Colby?" Dr Jensen asked, receiving a nod in response.

The doctor injected local anaesthetic into Colby's palm on both sides of the sliver of glass.

Colby was turned away from his right hand talking to David about anything to distract him, but he still winced as the needle went in. A few minutes later the doctor indicated that his palm should be numb and he went on to remove the glass without Colby feeling any further pain. The doctor then turned to the nurse who proceeded to wash out the wounds and stitch those that required it. 15 minutes later she was done.

"There you are, all done. 18 stitches." She said as she put a dressing round his hand. "No getting the hand wet for a week, you need to change the dressing every other day, the stitches should dissolve within 2 weeks. Any sign of swelling or infection then you need to seek medical advice straight away. OK?" Colby nodded. "I'll go and get your discharge papers and some more pain meds."

"I'll call Don and let him know you're done and that I'm dropping you home."  
"No, I'm going back to the office, no arguments David."

Brian just shrugged when David looked at him, he knew the agent was putting on a brave front, but he also knew that his body would tell him when it was time to rest.

The 3 men got out of the car at the FBI offices and went their separate ways.

"Thanks for your help Brian."  
"I'd say anytime, but you'd be knocking on my door every other day." He winked and walked away.

Colby and David got on an elevator to the 7th floor.

"Hey Don."  
"Didn't expect to see you back today." He shot a look at David, who just gave a 'what do you want me to do' shrug and sat at his desk.

"How are you feeling?"

"Hi Charlie, I'm ok thanks. Don, what do you think the chances are of this being linked to the whole wreath incident."

"You're asking the wrong Eppes!"

"Well the probability of the 2 things being connected is reasonably high, however in your line of work it's not out of the question that it's two different people."

"Thanks for clearing that up Charlie."

"Colby will you sit down before you fall down." Instructed Megan coming into the bullpen. She waited until Colby had sat in his chair. "Just got back from the lab, no fingerprints and no DNA, apart from Colby's."

"Another similarity to the wreath." Stated David.

"None of which helps." Responded Don.

"Well the more data the better, I can run some expressions on what you have, but to be honest I would need more, er, incidents."

"Are you telling us that you need more threats?" asked Megan astounded.

Charlie had the grace to look embarrassed. "It's just it's more data, which makes motive easier to ascertain."

David glanced over at his partner, he had slid down in his chair and his eyes were closed, he managed to get Megan and Don's attention without saying anything.

"That's it, Colby, get your jacket I'm taking you home." Colby's eyes shot open and he started to protest. "Forget it, I'm not taking no for an answer, I'm making this an order." Don stood up and walked over to impress up on his youngest team member just how serious he was. Colby sighed and grabbed his jacket, feeling like a naughty school boy, waved to the others and followed Don to the elevators.

"I won't be long." Said Don as he walked away.

On arriving at Colby's apartment Don got him a glass of water and handed it to him.

"Take your pain meds and go to bed. Call me tomorrow morning and let me know how you are."

"Yeah, ok, but I'll be fine."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Colby wanted to protest but took his meds and nodded. He followed Don to the door. "Thanks man, speak to you tomorrow." With that Don left and Colby locked the door behind him, walked through to the bedroom, stripped to his boxers and climbed into bed. He fell into a deep, dreamless sleep within minutes of his head touching the pillow.

It was 3 days before Don would allow Colby to return to work, much to the younger mans frustration. The only upside was by the time he returned the surveillance of the drug ring had been handed off to another team.


	7. Hostage

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or it's characters. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter… more Colby whump, you have been warned!**

Chapter Seven – Hostage.

It had been a month since the incident with the glass, Colby's hand had healed with very little scarring and there had been no further incidents, he had relaxed once more convinced that it was over.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colby pulled up outside Charlie's house, as he opened his car door he could already hear the laughter of his co-workers and friends. He turned to a nervous looking Jasmine. "Hey it will be fine, they don't bite!" He smiled as he ushered her before him, walked up to the front door and pressed the bell. Within minutes the door was being opened by Charlie.

"Hey man."  
"Colby, good to see you, come in, welcome." They followed him through to the backyard where Alan was standing at the grill and the rest of the team were chatting nearby with Larry and Amita. They all stopped when they spotted the pair and Colby introduced Jasmine to them all. It wasn't long before she got over her shyness and was chatting away with them.

There was no particular reason for this gathering other than Charlie had decided that he wasn't seeing enough of the team due to his other work commitments and enjoyed the banter that they shared. Thanks to his involvement in various cases over the years he was now closer to his brother, Don, than he had ever been, Charlie felt he owed a great deal of this to Megan, David and Colby as they had welcomed him into their group.

Amita walked over to Charlie and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "This was a great idea and Jasmine seems lovely, I think she's good for Colby."

He smiled at his girlfriend and looked over at Colby and Jasmine standing talking to Larry and Megan. "He says they're just friends, but perhaps in time he'll feel differently." He was thinking back to their own situation, it had taken them a long time to get their act together and start dating properly.

"Foods ready." Called Alan, they joined the rest of the guests, heaping their plates with food.

Once they were all sat round the table and Alan was happy everyone had a drink and plenty of food the group talked about what they'd each been up to.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Colby, I've found premises for my boutique." Jasmine's eyes sparkled as she announced this.

"You're opening a shop?" asked Amita with interest.

"Yes, I've always wanted to do it, I signed the lease today."

"Oh that's great." Said Megan "You'll have to let us know when it's going to open and we'll swing by." Amita nodded in agreement.

"No offence ladies, but you can count me out." Stated Colby.

Jasmine looked disappointed so he quickly added "The guys can meet you ladies afterwards for a celebratory meal, Alan that invite includes you."

David laughed at his friend's quick recovery. "I am sure Claudia would love to join you ladies, if you don't mind." He had told Jasmine all about the lady in his life.

"She would be more than welcome." Smiled Jasmine.

After everyone had eaten Colby and David cleared up, whilst the ladies sat round talking about the boutique and what Jasmine should stock. Don, Charlie, Larry and Alan talked about baseball, a conversation which Colby and David joined in once everything had been cleared away.

All too soon the evening started to draw to a close, it was getting late and they all had work in the morning, so the group started to head out, thanking Charlie and Alan for their hospitality.

Calls of "See you at the office tomorrow." and "Look forward to seeing you at the opening of your boutique in a couple of weeks." Followed as car doors slammed. A few minutes later the street was once again quiet.

"Thank you so much for making me come with you today. I had a great time, and you were right, they were all lovely."

Colby smiled "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. It's good to get out and meet people."

"I can see why you love working with them, and Alan is such a wonderful cook."

"That is why Don eats there more than he does at his own place." Laughed Colby. "We all try to get invited over as often as possible without moving in!"

Jasmine laughed and relaxed back into the passenger seat, it was after midnight and she was tired.

A little while later they pulled into her driveway, Colby got out and walked round the car to open her door for her and they walked towards the house together. Jasmine opened the door and walked in, turning on the hallway lights.

"Would you like to come in for a bit?"

"No, I won't, got to get up early for work in the morning."

"OK, night, and thanks again."

"Night, I'll call you tomorrow."

Jasmine nodded and closed the door. Colby headed back up the driveway and reached his car, just as he was about to open the door he heard a muffled scream from inside. _She's probably seen a spider or something, better go check on her anyway. _Thought Colby.

He headed back towards the house and heard another noise, this time a thud. He reached the door and tried the handle but the door was locked, he jogged round the side of the house, heading for the back yard and pool area. He quietly opened the gate and slipped through heading for the glass doors that led into the sitting room from the pool. As he looked in he saw two men standing with their backs to him, and Jasmine was facing him. "Jason, what are you doing here, what do you want?" She demanded

"Shut it, bitch." The man, now identified as Jason Rutherford, drew back his hand and slapped her round the face knocking her to the floor. Colby seethed with anger to see this, he had to find a way into the house undetected, he was about to move quietly passed the large floor to ceiling windows when he heard a sound behind him, he spun round and came face to face with a tall, powerful looking man. He went to throw a punch in Colby's direction but Colby managed to duck at the last minute and brought his fist up into the man's stomach. There was a satisfying whoosh of air from the other man. The goon threw himself full force at Colby knocking them both to the ground, taking the glass patio table with them, which promptly shattered under the two struggling men's weight. At the sound of the breaking glass the other man in the house with Jason quickly unlocked the door of the sitting room and rushed out to the patio unseen by Colby who was otherwise occupied. At the first available opportunity the second man waded in and kicked Colby in the ribs, ready to fight back he then found himself on his back with a gun shoved in his face.

"Try it FBI."

Colby took as deep a breath as his bruised ribs would allow. "Aw, now you know who I am, but I don't know your name. If we're gonna dance like this we should really at least know that about each other."

"Hey Jase, we have ourselves a smart ass." With that the second goon pulled Colby to his feet and drove his fist into his mid-section, causing him to bend over double. "Not so smart now eh?"

"Carlos, enough, bring him in here."

He started to do as his boss said when Colby piped up. "Now there ya go, I know you're name, we can dance all night." This earned him another punch to his stomach and he was dragged unceremoniously into the sitting room and thrown into a table, causing the vase of flowers on it to fall and shatter.

Jason Rutherford shook his head as he looked at the FBI agent. "Agent Granger isn't it? So we meet again. Carlos, remove his weapon and tie his hands."

This was done in short order and Colby was pulled to his feet and placed on a chair, which he was also tied to, where Carlos could keep a close eye on him.

Glancing round Colby saw Jasmine, now seated on a sofa the start of a dark bruise forming under her right eye, he glared at Rutherford. "You'll pay for doing that."

Jason just laughed and turned to speak to Jasmine.

"You and your boyfriend here…."

"I am not her boyfriend…"

"Was I talking to you, Carlos you know what to do."

With that the large man with Jason stepped forward and punched Colby in the jaw.

"Is that the best you can do? My 5 year old niece could hit harder." Was the response Colby gave. He was rewarded by a second much harder punch.

"Keep it up, man, I'm having fun." Said Carlos, the pleasure glinting in his eyes.

"As I was saying, you and your _friend_ here have cost me a lot of money. Now you're going to pay." Jason's smile was sinister as he sat down on a chair opposite Jasmine.

"You're the one with the money, all I have is what you allowed when we split."

"Ah now, babe, I know that's not true. I gave you a generous allowance the 10 years we were together, you didn't spend it all, did you? I would lay odds that you ferreted some away for a rainy day, smart girl like you."

She shook her head in denial.

He nodded at Carlos, who once again drew back his ham like fist and drove it once more into Colby's stomach. A whoosh of air escaped Colby's lips.

"You will tell me what I want to know."

Jasmine looked at Colby again, who looked straight back at her and shook his head.

"Carlos…"

With a gleam in his eye the man punched his trussed up victim several more times, before landing one to the side of his head, causing him to black out.

"Enough for now Carlos. You will give me what I want Jasmine, or it will be your friend here that suffers the consequences. I will give you some time to think about it." With that he headed out to the kitchen leaving Carlos to watch her.

When Jason returned he looked at Jasmine. "Well?"

She stood up and walked over to him defiantly and just spat in his face.

"Carlos, tell Frank to bring the car round." He looked back at Jasmine, raised his hand and knocked her to the floor once more, this time she struck her head on a nearby table and was knocked unconscious. "Then take her out to it."

Colby, through the ringing in his ears caused by Carlos' punches, had heard the sickening thud as her head had connected with the table, powerless to do anything.

Jason merely sneered at the FBI agent.

"Let me outta this chair and we'll see who would win in a fair fight." Snarled Colby.

Jason laughed. "I don't think so Agent Granger." He walked away leaving the angry man to fume.

Carlos lifted Jasmine and headed out the front door, on his return he turned to his boss. "What about him?" He nodded towards Colby. "Can I kill him now?"

"Patience Carlos, soon enough, but in the meantime he may be just what we need to get Jasmine to co-operate, put him in the trunk." With that Jason left the room.

Colby watched the disappointment cross the large man's face, whilst not thrilled at the idea of being thrown into the trunk of a car, it beat a bullet to the head, would give him some time to think about how to get out of this mess. Carlos walked over and untied his hands from the chair but leaving them tied behind his back, he pulled him to his feet and Colby decided to see if he could at least cause some trouble for the man. He wrenched himself free and started to run towards the front door, within seconds Carlos tackled him to the floor causing Colby to lurch forward and his head to connect with the bottom marble step of the staircase leading to the first floor. Carlos leant down, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him, half unconscious, to the car and heaved him into the trunk. Colby groaned as it was closed over him. All he'd managed to do was to almost knock himself out and now he had to deal with the headache that he knew would surely follow, not to mention he could feel the blood trickling down his face from the cut he had no doubt given himself.

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The following morning Don, David and Megan were at their desks by 08:00, unusually they had all beaten Colby, which was rare. They chatted about the get together the previous day and all of them agreed that Jasmine was good for Colby, she seemed to bring out the best in him. Having exhausted the conversation they all turned to the piles of folders on their desks, cases that had gone cold and needed reviewing to see if they could find any new leads. The 3 settled down in silence. An hour later David glanced at Colby's still empty desk, it was not like him to be this late to work. He picked up his phone and dialled Colby's home number, it went to voicemail, he left a message, he called his cell, straight to voicemail, left another message. Once this was done he turned to see Don and Megan looking at him, their faces, he was sure, reflecting his own feelings of concern.

"I am sure he's overslept or something."

"I dunno Megan, his cell went straight to voicemail which means it's switched off, he never turns it off."

"We'll give him another hour and try again, lets not hit the panic button just yet." Said Don. David nodded his agreement and they all turned, uneasily, back to their work.

An hour later there was still no sign of Colby, once again they tried both his home and cell numbers with the same result.

"Has anyone got Jasmine's number?"

Megan nodded, withdrew her cell and dialled the number and waited. "No answer, it's going to answer machine."

"Damn, this is not like him Don."

"OK David, why don't you head over to his apartment, Megan go to Jasmine's, I'll stay here in case he turns up. Call if you get anything." Neither of his agents needed to be told twice and immediately grabbed their things and headed for the elevators.

Thirty minutes later Don's desk phone rang. "Eppes."

"Don, I'm at his apartment, he's not here, his car isn't in the parking lot either."

"OK, head back to… hang on Megan's calling my cell." He answered. "Megan?"

"Don, you and David need to head over here and we need ERT as well. I dunno what's happened but the front door wasn't locked, Colby's car is here, but neither he nor Jasmine are."

"Be there in thirty." Replied Don, hanging up from Megan, he turned to his desk phone. "Get to Jasmine's, now." Without waiting for a response he hung up and dialled the ERT, he gave them the address Megan had given him, grabbed his keys and headed out.

When he arrived Megan and David were standing by Colby's car.

"What have you got?"

"Patio table in the backyard smashed to smithereens, blood on the bottom of the staircase in the lobby. Once I'd ascertained there was nobody in I didn't want to compromise any evidence so came back out."

Don nodded and was about to say something when another vehicle pulled into the drive, it was ERT. The team leader, Jim Vickers, got out and approached Don who explained that an Agent was missing and that the house was a friend's. He merely nodded, turned to his team and directed them to different areas of the house, then followed them inside, leaving the three agents standing waiting.

A short time later Jim came out carrying something in a clear plastic evidence bag. "Found these inside on the floor, also blood on the glass from the table and blood at the bottom of the stairs, we'll take samples and run them for a match ."

The three could see that it was Colby's FBI badge and presumably his gun in the evidence bag. "Well that clinches it, he's missing and we have to find him." Don turned pulled out his cell and dialled the director to fill him in.

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Jasmine groaned as she came too, her head was pounding, she didn't think she had drunk that much at Charlie's. She started to open her eyes only to be assaulted by the cheerful, bright dawn of an LA morning. She quickly closed her eyes again, taking deep breaths to push down the nausea. When she felt ready she opened her eyes again and glanced round the room. She saw that she was laying on a sofa in a large office space, glancing round to get her bearings her eyes finally came to rest on Colby, who was tied to a chair, and the previous few hours came rushing back.

"Hey boss, she's awake." Called Carlos.

Jason walked over to her and handed her a glass of water. "Hello sunshine. Ready to tell me what I want to know yet?"

She took the water and sipped it slowly, buying herself some time before answering.

"Chop, chop babe, haven't got all day ya know."

After another sip her stomach recoiled "Bathroom?" she questioned Jason. He pointed to a door in the corner of the room and she hurried to it. A few minutes later she returned. She glanced at Colby and saw that he had bruises forming on his right jaw and cheekbone. He also looked at her carefully, she was extremely pale and shaking, there was a cut above her right eye where she must have hit her head, and a bruise on her cheek where she had been slapped. He was relieved to see her give him a small smile. This was not missed by Jason.

"Ah, ain't love grand? Sit back down on the sofa Jasmine." His voice brooked no arguments and she did as she was told.

"Now where is the money?"  
"I don't have any. It's gone."

He shook his head. "You've learnt nothing I see." He nodded to Carlos, who grinned maliciously at Colby and proceeded to punch him so hard in the face that he knocked the chair he was tied to over. He then pulled his foot back and kicked Colby hard in the ribs.

He couldn't be sure, but Colby was sure he had heard something crack at that last blow.

"Stop, leave him alone."  
"Then tell me the truth."

"The money is gone, I paid for a lease on a boutique with it."

Again, he nodded at Carlos, he pulled Colby back to a sitting position, Carlos didn't give him much time before he punched him in the face once more, causing his cut lip to start bleeding again. Carlos adjusted what appeared to be a ring on his finger and punched him again, this time to the eye area, the ring connected with Colby's skin to the left of his eye, ripping it open and causing blood to trickle down his face.

"Jason, stop it, please." Jasmine begged.

He looked at Carlos and shook his head, the big mans face dropped with disappointment, but he knew his boss would let him loose on the FBI agent sooner or later and he could take pleasure in beating him to death if he so desired.

"Lets take a break." Stated Jason, both he and Carlos left the room once more, knowing that neither of their captives were going anywhere, looking pointedly at the CCTV camera in the corner of the room.

Jasmine got to her feet and rushed, unsteadily, to Colby's side.

"This is all my fault."

"Jasmine, you can't be blamed for what he's doing. The man is clearly unhinged. My team will figure out we're missing and they'll find us, you have to believe that, OK?"

She looked at him with eyes filled with tears. "You really think so?"  
"I know they will Jasmine. Now go and sit back on the sofa, I don't want them to hurt you again." She turned away from him and did as he said.


	8. Imprisoned

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything, let alone Numb3rs or it's characters! Jasmine is from my imagination.**

**Hope you enjoy reading.**

Chapter Eight – Imprisoned

Don, David and Megan all rushed back into the bullpen, AD Wright was waiting for them.

"I'm taking you and your team off this case Eppes."

"With all due respect Sir, you can't. Agent Granger is a member of my team and if anyone can find him we can."

"That's all well and good Agent Eppes but you are too close to this situation."

"Damn right we're close, we're a team and I am not going to sit idly by whilst god knows what is happening to one of my agents." Megan put a steadying hand on his arm knowing that antagonising the AD was not the way to get what he wanted.

"Sir, I understand that under normal circumstances a team can not investigate something involving one of their own, but this is hardly a normal circumstance, how often do we have agents go missing?"

"I share your concerns about Agent Granger's safety, which is why I believe it would be best to put another team on it."

"Sir, please, let us work this case, we can not sit by and watch other people try to find him and do nothing. If our judgement starts to fail then I will accept being removed from the case, but don't take us off when we have done nothing to deserve it."

AD Wright looked at Megan carefully. "OK, you can work it, but I want you to report your findings to me, the first sign that you are too close to this and I'll bring in another team, is that clear?"

"Crystal Sir." Responded Don.

The AD turned and headed back to his office.

"Don?"

He turned at the sound of his brother's voice.

"Charlie, Amita, Larry, thanks for coming down so quickly, we really appreciate it."

"It's Colby." Said Charlie simply, Amita and Larry nodded. The group headed to the war room and Don briefed the scientists on what he had so far.

"Not much to go on."

"I know Charlie, but it's all we've got." Replied a despondent David.

Just then Don's cell rang. "Eppes." He paused as he listened, nodding even though the caller could not see him. When finished he thanked the person and hung up.

"That was Jim Vickers, he knows we need answers fast, he bought in the blood samples from the scene and had them run as a priority. The blood on the staircase is Colby's." He paused to let them take this in.

"Well there wasn't much there, so we should take that as a good sign." Stated Megan.

Don nodded his agreement before continuing. "The blood on the glass from the table came back to Bill Yardley, he is a hired thug, he works for Jason Rutherford."

"Jasmine's ex?" asked David.

"Yes. I think we need to run down all known associates and addresses for Rutherford. I'll call Lieutenant Walker at LAPD and ask if he can get us anything."

Forty minutes later Gary Walker stood in front of them. He had bought with him a large box filled with files.

"This is all the information we've accumulated over the last 12 months. It includes known addresses and contacts, as well as details of our surveillance. I have to tell you folks that Rutherford is a nasty piece of work and I'd be happy to help you track him down and take him off the streets."

"Thanks Gary, we'll take you up on that offer, any help we can get to bring Colby and Jasmine back safely."

"Right we need to separate the data." Started Charlie "Details of known locations in one pile, known associates in another." The team got to work doing as he suggested. A short time later they had two separate but equally large piles in front of them.

"Why don't Charlie, Larry and Amita work on mapping the locations, the rest of us can run down the associates. Find out where they are and perhaps shake some useful information from them?" Everyone nodded their agreement. "OK, Gary why don't you come with me?"

"If you get any new locations give me a call so I can add them into the expression." Called Charlie.

They all set off to carry out their given tasks, knowing that they may not have much time.

Three hours later Megan, David, Don and Walker walked dejectedly back into the war room.

"Nothing, nobody knew a thing, or if they did they weren't telling."

"I've got my guys keeping their eyes on the main players, see if anything shakes loose."

"We can't wait! We have to find them. NOW!" A frustrated David banged his hand on the nearby table to emphasise his point.

Megan, ever the clear headed, calm one, reached over and rested her hand on his shoulder. "We're going to find him David."

"We're doing all we can. Hang in there." Added Don.

"It never feels like enough though, does it?" he murmured in response.

"If we have to we'll go back out on the streets and go through the known associates again, Sinclair." Walker was as annoyed as the FBI agents at not getting even a clue.

"Er, I don't think that will be necessary."

All heads turned towards the team of scientists that had been working silently too busy to pay much attention to the exchange.

"Oh Charlie, man, tell me you've got something?"

"Yes, I believe we have David." Responded an excited Charlie, he pointed to a map pinned to the board behind him. "We plotted all the locations mentioned in the files, warehouses, bars, home addresses. What we ended up with was this." He pulled down a translucent sheet of plastic covered with, what appeared to the non-scientists in the room, lots of random red dots.

"And?" Prompted Megan.

"We overlaid his known associates." Stated Larry, and another translucent sheet was dropped over this time covered in blue dots.

"Still not getting it Larry."

"I think I can help." Jumped in Amita. "I put this together on the computer." They all turned towards the large screen at the front of the room. "If I take away certain outlying addresses and associates, we're left with quite a clear pattern, especially when we factored in the known addresses and associates of Bill Yardley." She punched another button on her laptop, changing the amount of dots once more by adding in yellow ones.

"I see it." Said Walker, astounding everyone. "The blue, yellow and red all seem to be converging in this one area. Hang on a minute, that's Rutherford's warehouse, it sits on a remote tract of land just outside the warehouse district."

Not needing to hear any more Don picked up the phone to Tim King, the SWAT Leader. Megan in turn picked up the phone and filled in the AD, who was pleased to hear that they had a lead and was actually happy to allow King to take charge.

"Good job Chuck." Said Don as he, Walker, Megan and David all headed out to meet Tim in the parking garage.

Once downstairs Don filled in the SWAT guys quickly and they all piled into their vehicles and headed out to the warehouse district.

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Back in the warehouse Colby wasn't faring too well. Jason persisted with questioning Jasmine about the money, she in turn persisted in refuting his claims that she had any. Every time she denied it poor Colby became Carlos' punching bag, though tiring of using the same method to torment him, he had found that inflicting small shallow cuts using a penknife was reasonably effective in getting a cry in response from Jasmine, even if not from Colby, he was sure that she wouldn't be able to take much more and would give his boss what he wanted, thus allowing him to finish off the FBI agent in any manner he saw fit. Colby was managing to bite his lip and, mostly, not give his tormentor the satisfaction of crying out. He wanted badly to get out of the ropes that bound him so securely to that chair and beat the life out of the other man, not for what he was doing to him, but for what he was putting Jasmine through. He had continually strained against his ropes, but all he had succeeded in doing was to cause them to tighten cutting deeper into his wrists and drawing blood.

"Jasmine, I tire of your lies."

"They are not lies. I have the house that you gave me and the lease for the boutique. I live off the allowance you provide as part of our separation agreement."

"I will let Carlos kill your FBI friend, you know that don't you?"

"I don't doubt it for a minute Jason, you're an evil man."

Jason just laughed and turned to look at Colby. "I'm evil? I gave her everything she ever wanted, and more. This is how she repays me. Before you die, Agent Granger, you need to know something about Jasmine…" before he could finish his sentence there was a loud bang and cries of "FBI…" followed by gunfire.

Jason grabbed Jasmine and pulled out a gun. Carlos deftly untied Colby's hands from the chair so he could use the agent as a shield, inadvertently giving the agent the opening he was looking for, he pulled his head quickly forward driving it back into the face of Carlos standing behind him, caught by surprise the man dropped his weapon and fell to the ground momentarily blinded. Colby then ran headlong into Jasmine and Jason, this caught the man off guard, knocking him to the ground, causing him to also drop his weapon and smash his head into the floor with some force, knocking him unconscious.

"Jasmine, get in the bathroom and lock the door, NOW" yelled Colby at the frightened woman. "MOVE." At his second shout she did as instructed before Carlos had time to recover from the shock of being head butted and grab her.

As Colby watched Jasmine disappear into the bathroom he turned to see a very angry Carlos barrelling towards him, hands still tied behind his back Colby couldn't defend himself easily, he tried to feint and step out of the way, but unfortunately Carlos predicted his move and hit him full force in his already painful ribcage. Both men tumbled to the floor, Colby landing on his back. A look of pure hatred was on Carlos' face as he swung his fist back and punched Colby repeatedly in the stomach and rib area. He could still hear the sound of gunfire outside in the main warehouse and knew it was just a matter of time before they found him, he just hoped he'd still be alive when they did. Colby used what little strength he had left to try to buck the man off of him, but all he succeeded in doing was changing the mans focus so that he started punching him in the face, his head was reeling and he was starting to lose consciousness, the man was clearly not content with the damage he had already inflicted as he pushed himself up off the floor and kicked him hard in the ribs, the pain was becoming unbearable, he closed his eyes and waited for the next kick, he heard the sound of a door being kicked in, a gun shot being fired nearby, he thought a familiar voice called out his name but he was in too much pain to focus and then he slipped gratefully into the darkness that beckoned him.

Colby felt hands pull at the ropes round his wrists, releasing them from their binds. He heard a familiar sounding voice call out. "Get me a medic in here, I've got a pulse." Colby opened his eyes slowly, was that really David he could see, his left eye was only a slit due to the swelling. He moaned as he tried to move.

"Stay still buddy, help is on the way." David said.

"Jasmine, bathroom…."

"What's that?" He leaned forward to hear his partner better.

"Jasmine is in the bathroom.."  
"It's OK, man, we've got her, she's gonna be fine."

Colby felt relief wash over him, he had done his job, he allowed his eyes to close.

"Hey, no, no, no. Come on stay with me."

He felt hands gently shake him and he prised his eyes open to look at David unsure why he wouldn't let him rest. Just then two more men appeared beside him and David moved out of the way.

Colby felt hands pulling at his clothes, probing places that were too painful to be touched gently let alone poked at. He tried to pull away but the same firm, but gentle hands held him still.

"Can we get some more help over here, we need to immobilise him for transport."

He felt something being secured round his neck and then he was being rolled and a hard surface was under his back, _why won't they just let me sleep? _He thought to himself.

"I need to insert a line and get some fluid going, lets get some O2 on him and secure him on the backboard."

The face of a paramedic appeared above him. "What's his name?"

"Colby Granger, he's an FBI Agent." Called a voice in the background, another familiar voice, Megan?

"Colby, can you hear me?" He tried to nod his head. "Don't move, if you can just answer yes or no, ok?"

"Yes."  
"Good, my name is Will, I'm a paramedic. I am going to tell you what we're going to do OK?"

"Yes."

"We've put a collar on you and have you strapped to a back board, we don't know the extent of your injuries so we're erring on the side of caution. I've put a line in your hand and I'm going to put an oxygen mask over your face in a minute. Can you tell me if anything specific is hurting."

"Everything. Hard to breathe." As if to emphasise his point he paused. "Head hurts. Stomach too."

"Alright Colby, I'm going to give you something for the pain, then we're going to get you to the hospital, I need you to try to stay awake."

_Oh boy, did this Will guy expect miracles or what_? Thought Colby.

The next thing he felt a mask over his face and the movement of air, it was a little easier to breathe, a cold sensation also went up his arm as something was injected into the back of his hand. "Right, lets get him transported." With that he was lifted onto a stretcher and placed in the back of an ambulance.

He could vaguely hear things going on around him, the sound of a siren, the persistent beep of a machine, which was driving him nuts, he just wanted peace and quiet. He heard the voice of Will, the paramedic. "33 year old male, multiple blows to the face and head, possible cracked ribs, query internal injuries, multiple lacerations. We are 10 minutes out."

The next thing Colby was aware of was bright lights being shone in his eyes, he winced in pain.

"Colby, it's Doctor Jensen, can you hear me?"

_What is it with people, do they think I'm deaf?_ He thought. "Yes." He managed to mumble through the wall of pain.

Doctor Jensen started pressing on his abdomen, causing Colby's eyes to widen as much as they could and him to yell out in pain and try to move, suddenly he was finding it a whole lot more difficult to breathe. This wasn't right surely?

Doctor Jensen put a stethoscope over Colby's right lung.

"Dammit, tension pneumothorax, get me a thoracostomy tray and chest tube and the ultrasound machine, I suspect he has internal bleeding, page the on call Surgeon, we're losing him…."

That was the last thing Colby heard as he drifted into oblivion.

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David, Megan and Don hurried through the doors to the ER and headed straight for the reception area.

"Excuse me, can we speak to someone about a patient who has been bought in by ambulance?" Megan asked the woman behind the desk.

"Are you relatives?"

"He's a member of my team, I'm his boss." Responded Don.

The woman eyed him not sure if she should give out the information when Don pulled out his FBI ID. The combination of this and the looks of distress on the groups faces made her decision for her. "Patient's name?"

"Agent Colby Granger."

She typed something into the PC in front of her. "He hasn't been booked in yet."

"What does that mean?"

"The paramedics have to provide the patients paperwork so that it can be entered on to the system. I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything yet." She looked at the three agents with sympathy.

"Can you ask someone? Please?" begged David, desperate to find out how his partner was.

"Wait a moment." The woman got up and disappeared. On her return she had a nurse in tow.

"You're looking for information on Agent Granger?"

They all nodded in confirmation.

"Doctor Jensen is with him now, please, I know it's difficult, but take a seat and he will come and see you as soon as he can." The nurse indicated a seating area opposite the reception desk.

They nodded bleakly knowing that they had to let the medical team do their jobs and headed to the waiting area.


	9. Jasmine

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters.**

**I may have taken some liberties with medical terminology etc, please forgive me! Hope you enjoy this next chapter! I have had to repost this Chapter as it was showing an error and the site could not find it! (Thank you Cgfan for bringing this to my attention.)  
**

Chapter Nine – Jasmine.

Jasmine had been bought into the ER, she had been examined by the doctor and told that she had a concussion, they had said that she would be kept in overnight, she didn't care, she just wanted to know what had happened to Colby as she was bought to the hospital before him and the police woman that was with her wouldn't, or couldn't, tell her anything.

She was just contemplating getting up and going to find out what was going on when Megan appeared in the doorway.

"Jasmine, can I come in?"

The younger woman turned towards her. "Megan. How's Colby, nobody will tell me anything? It was awful. Carlos just kept hitting him, it didn't matter what I said, Jason didn't listen…." She started to sob.  
"Shhhhh, it's OK. We're still waiting for news on Colby, the doctors are with him now. You need to take care of yourself. He would hate to see you like this." She took the distressed woman into her arms in a reassuring embrace. "Let the staff help you, allow them to give you something to help you rest."

Jasmine shook her head emphatically, immediately regretting it as pain bounced round her skull.

"Jasmine," Megan leant back and looked her in the eye. "He is going to need all of us when he comes out of this, he is going to need to know that you are OK. In order for that to happen you must rest." Megan could see that she was starting to waiver. "Please, for Colby, let the staff give you something."

Jasmine took a breath and mumbled. "OK." Megan called the nurse over before she could change her mind.

Thirty minutes later Jasmine was tucked up in bed in a room on the 2nd floor of the hospital, she had been given a sedative and was resting quietly. Megan took the opportunity to slip out and head back to the ER to check on Colby's condition.

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"How is she?" asked a concerned Don.

"I managed to persuade her to let the medical staff give her a sedative, so she's resting, but she blames herself. She has a concussion so she's being kept in overnight. I'll go back and check on her when we know more about Colby. Take it there has been no more news?"

Don shook his head. Just at that moment a Doctor walked into the waiting area and recognised David.

"Agent Sinclair…"

David lifted his head from his hands to look at the man. "Doctor Jensen."

"I am sorry to see you and Agent Granger here again."

"Me too. How is he?"

"He has a concussion, a collapsed lung which I have inserted a chest tube for, multiple lacerations and contusions, our biggest concern is internal bleeding. He is on his way to the OR to stop the bleeding, however I have to warn you his condition is critical. His heart has already stopped once."

"Oh god…"

"I assure you he is in the best hands, Doctor Vassen is the best surgeon in this hospital. Can I suggest that you head up to the OR waiting area, she will come and find you once she has completed the procedure."

The 3 friends nodded, thanked Doctor Jensen and did as he had suggested, too upset to speak. On arriving on the floor with the OR waiting room they spoke to a nurse who said she would let them know if there was any news and tell Doctor Vassen they were there when surgery was finished.

They sat down and all stared into space, lost in their own thoughts.

"It's my fault."

"How do you figure David?"

"I should have realised something was wrong when he didn't show up for work on time, if we'd found him sooner perhaps his injuries wouldn't have been so severe."

"Well if we're playing the blame game, I can shoulder some of that responsibility, it was me who suggested we wait another hour before pressing the panic button." Responded Don.

"Stop it, both of you! How is this helping Colby? Decisions were made based on the information we had at the time, the only person to blame for this is Jason Rutherford. Just remember that, and he is in jail, right where he belongs. You need to stop trying to blame yourselves and focus on what we can do to help Colby through this."

"You're right, sorry."

"She usually is." Came Larry's voice.

Don looked up to see him, Charlie, Amita and Alan standing in the doorway to the room.

"You didn't have to come down."

"No Donnie, we didn't, but he's like family, I thought he, and all of you, could use the support." Replied Alan sitting down next to his eldest son and resting a hand on his shoulder. Don smiled at his father gratefully as the others sat down and joined them in their silent vigil.

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Jasmine was alone when she woke, the police woman was long gone, she had returned to her duties once Jasmine was taken to a room. She looked around the dimly lit room. She needed to find out how Colby was doing and she couldn't do that by laying in bed. Jason had gone too far, she had never expected him to injure Colby so badly, if she had only known what might happen.

Mentally shaking herself she slowly sat up, her head hurt as she moved, so she remained still allowing her body to get used to the change in position. Once she was sure she wasn't going to be sick, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up, searching the room for something to put on over the hospital gown she was wearing. Her clothes had been taken by LAPD and she didn't want to go wandering the corridors of the hospital in just the gown, making her way out into the corridor, she found a pair of clean scrubs that had been left in a chair outside some changing rooms and quickly changed into them. She decided to make her way down to the ER to see if she could find out what was going on.

Heading for the elevators she caught sight of a clock on the wall 11pm, she had been bought here about 5 or 6 hours ago. She got on an elevator and pressed for the ground floor, once there she headed for the reception desk and asked for the whereabouts of Agent Colby Granger.

The woman behind the desk looked at her suspiciously. "Are you a relative?"

"I'm his girlfriend."

"Oh, OK. He is in surgery. I can get someone to take you up to the waiting area if you like."

"No, thank you, I can find it." The receptionist told her how to get to the OR floor and Jasmine headed back to the elevators. As she stepped out she came face to face with Megan.

"Jasmine."

"Er, hi Megan."

"Should you be up and about?" she asked concerned, when the younger woman didn't answer, Megan ushered her to a nearby grouping of chairs. "Do the nursing staff know where you are?"

Jasmine simply shook her head slowly.

"OK, wait there." She headed back to the waiting area and quickly filled the others in, then headed off to find a nurse, whilst Amita went to sit with Jasmine.

Megan returned with a nurse in tow. "Jasmine, you are not supposed to be out of bed, I have spoken to the nurse on duty downstairs and she was about to send out a search party for you!"

She looked at the nurse sheepishly. "I'm sorry but I needed to know how Colby is and there was nobody about to ask. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"You have to remember that you are a patient here and we are responsible for your safety and well being, you need to let someone know if you are going to go somewhere." The nurse responded in a softer tone. "You need to go back to your room and get into bed, you are still supposed to be resting. A concussion, even a mild one, should not be messed with."

"Please can't I stay up here for just a little while?" Pleaded Jasmine. "I won't be able to rest until I know Colby is alright. I know he's in surgery but that's it."

Relenting slightly the nurse replied. "Very well, but if you start to get dizzy or feel sick you have to tell someone, and you can only stay up here for a little while, I will be back shortly to ensure you return to your room." That said the nurse went back to her duties.

Jasmine's shoulders slumped with relief, Megan and Amita gently filled her in on Colby's condition and then took her back to the waiting room with them. The others made a fuss of her and made her as comfortable as they could.

"This is all my fault." She murmured.

"I've had this conversation with Don and David already, you can't blame yourself for someone else's actions." Said Megan softly.

"If I hadn't asked Colby to help me then he wouldn't have been dropping me home when Jason was waiting."

"Then you might not be with us to tell the tale. He is the most stubborn person I know, he can get through this and he would be the first one to tell you that he knew what he was doing." David said.

"I hope you're right about him getting through this, I could never forgive myself if he didn't, I never thought I would trust anyone again after what Jason put me through, he is so kind and considerate in comparison, I would trust him with my life."

"You did Jasmine, which is why you are alive. He is the kind of man that would lay his life on the line for any one of us." Alan said what everyone else was thinking.

Silence descended on the group as they allowed their memories to take them over.

Colby had now been in surgery for almost 6 hours, the waiting was beginning to get to all of them.

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"Are you all here for Agent Granger?"

The group looked up into the face of a Doctor who was clearly surprised to see so many people in the waiting room.

Alan put his hand on his eldest's arm. "Yes, we are, how is he?"

"I am Doctor Vassen, I performed surgery on Agent Granger. He is currently in recovery. He had severe internal bleeding and I had to remove his spleen, he lost a significant amount of blood during the procedure which he is receiving transfusions for. We have had to put him on a ventilator as he is very weak and the more help we give him, the less work his body has to do, the greater chance of a full recovery."

"What are the chances of a full recovery Doctor Vassen?"

"Bearing in mind the trauma of the collapsed lung and the extensive blood loss the next 24-48 hours are critical. If he makes it through that period the chances go up considerably as long as he doesn't develop complications."

"That isn't really an answer though, is it doctor?" stated David.

"It's the best one I can give you right now. If you'll excuse me I'd like to get back to my patient. He will be taken to ICU, a nurse will show you down there and you may be allowed to see him briefly."

"Thank you Doctor Vassen." The doctor nodded and headed back to recovery to check on her patient.

A short while later the group followed a nurse down to the ICU, she motioned to them to enter yet another waiting room whilst she carried on to speak to the nurse in charge of the ICU that night. They watched as the two spoke, the first gesturing in their general direction. The second nurse checked something on a screen in front of her and nodded, then turned towards the waiting area.

"Agent Granger has just been settled into his room, there are too many of you to visit all at once, please limit it to two people at a time and only stay for five minutes, you can come back tomorrow and spend more time with him, but right now you need to let us look after him." She looked around at them to ensure they understood. "He is in room 5." Then she headed back to the hub of the ICU where she could see all the vitals of the patients in the rooms.

The nurse from the OR was hovering in the doorway. "I need to take Jasmine back to her room now."

Jasmine's eyes started to fill with tears, but before she could say anything David spoke up. "Can I please take her to see Colby first, I am sure she will rest better once she's seen him and will stay put until morning." Jasmine nodded her agreement.

The nurse sighed. "OK, five more minutes."

The rest of the group held back watching as David and Jasmine headed into the room first, of all of them they needed the most reassurance. They stepped into the room and got their first look at Colby, at once Jasmine was reduced to tears. David slipped an arm around her and guided her to a chair to sit, worried that she would collapse from the shock. He himself couldn't believe this was his partner, his brother, laying in the bed. There was a tube attached to the ventilator helping him breathe, two lines going into his hands, and he was hooked up to various, beeping machines. Colby's skin was as white, if not whiter, than the sheets that lay over him. David walked over and laid a hand gently on his shoulder, unable to touch anywhere else as his arms were covered in bandages to prevent his multitude of lacerations getting infected.

"Oh Colby." He whispered. "What did you get yourself into this time? I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you sooner, but I'm here now and we're going to get you through this. I need you, man. The team needs you. Be strong, get better." He felt a hand on his back and looked round to see Jasmine, her eyes brimming with tears.

"He's lucky to have you David." He gave her his own watery smile, squeezed Colby's shoulder and stepped back to allow Jasmine to get closer, she gently clasped Colby's hand.

"I'm sorry Colby, I wish I had known what Jason was capable of, I would never have involved you if I'd truly known. Thank you, though, for saving my life, for being there for me. I'm going to be here for you now, whatever you need. I have to go back to my own room now, but I wanted to let you know I'm OK, and that is because of you." She leaned carefully over the side of the bed and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Rest well, I will see you tomorrow." With that she left and followed the nurse back to her room.

The others all took their turn to spend a few minutes with their stricken friend, hoping that he would feel their presence and it would give him the strength to get through this ordeal. They left him promising to return in the morning.

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When Jasmine woke the next morning the first thing she did was to ask the nurses when she would be released, she desperately wanted to go and be with Colby and ensure he had made it through the night. One of the nurses, finally getting fed up with being continually asked, compromised with Jasmine and called the ICU to find out Colby's condition.

"The ICU staff say he is still in a critical condition but he has remained stable overnight, now will you please be patient, the doctor needs to examine you before you can be released, he will be here soon." The nurse left a frustrated Jasmine to cool her heels.

The door to her room opened and she looked up eagerly, her face fell when she realised it was David, he gave her a wry smile.

"Not who you were expecting huh?"  
"Oh I'm so sorry David, I was hoping you were the doctor coming to discharge me."

"That's ok, I'm not offended, Megan sent me over, she thought you might need some clothes." He held a bag out for her. "There is also some wash stuff and other things in there for you."

"That was very thoughtful of her, thank her for me."

"You'll be able to do that yourself, she is downstairs with Colby now. Everyone's down there. We thought we'd take it in turns to sit with him."

"That's a great idea, you can count me in. Have you seen him yet?" She hid her disappointment at not being the first one to be with Colby.

"No, I know him and he would want me to make sure you were looked after before I went to see him."

Before she could reply the door opened and a doctor entered. David excused himself saying he would wait for her outside.

A short time later Jasmine was given a clean bill of health, told to rest for a couple of days and discharged. She quickly freshened up, mentally thanking Megan for the toothbrush and toothpaste, then dressed in the jeans and t-shirt that had been packed for her. She met David in the corridor and they headed down to the ICU together.

True to their word the group were working out a schedule for someone to sit with Colby all the time, including Jasmine, even through the night, with the nursing staffs agreement. Patients in the ICU were in such a serious condition that the staff quite often bent the rules.

Whilst not overly happy at having to share Colby, she knew that this was something he would need if he was going to come through this. She was going to sit with him for a couple of hours this morning before she was driven home to rest.

She walked silently into his room, walked over to his bed and kissed his forehead. There had been no change in his condition, he still looked pale and a shadow of his former self. She drew up a chair so she could leave her hand resting on his, she talked to him softly of the life she knew they could have together. He may not be able to hear her, but it helped her feel better talking about how she felt and the future she so desperately wanted to have with him. All too soon her visit came to an end and his friends arrived to tear her away from him. She reassured herself with the fact that she would be back the next day and they would not be able to remove her so easily when she was fully recovered from her concussion, right now she needed her rest as well.

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The following morning Jasmine walked into the ICU, she had already called first thing to find out how Colby was doing, the medical team were extremely happy with his progress and although still in a serious condition they were more optimistic about a full recovery. In fact if his vitals remained stable they were intending to reduce his sedation and perhaps even take him off the ventilator the staff had told her.

Entering the room she saw David was already there, he was reading something to Colby. When he spotted her he stopped.

"Hey Jasmine, how are you feeling?"

"Much better thank you David. How long have you been here?"

"Not long, five minutes or so, you just missed Charlie and Amita."

"Shame. How is he?"

"Doing well according to Doctor Vassen, she will be dropping by in a little while to check on him. They reduced his sedation so she wants to keep a close eye on him."

Jasmine nodded as she took a chair on the opposite side of the bed from David.

They both looked up a short time later as Doctor Vassen appeared. She smiled in greeting before checking the monitors.

"He's doing well, I am going to take him off the sedation completely. Don't worry we'll be keeping a close eye on him." She added at the look of concern that crossed Jasmine's face. She made a note on the chart then spoke quietly to the nurse before leaving the room.

"How long will it take for the sedative to wear off?" Jasmine asked the nurse.

"An hour or so, he was on a light dosage the last few hours so it won't take as long to leave his system."

Jasmine was determined to be there when he woke up, no matter what his friends said.

As it was she and David were still there when Colby started to make a gagging noise, David headed straight to alert the nurse whilst Jasmine quickly got up and stood at his side.

"It's OK Colby, you're in hospital, you're safe… We're safe. Lay quiet now, the Doctor is on her way."

David quickly came to stand on his other side, resting a hand on Colby's shoulder. "You're going to be alright, brother, just try to relax."

Jasmine was upset to realise that Colby's eyes were now focused on the other man and not on her.

At that moment the Doctor came into the room and moved Jasmine aside, the young woman was not thrilled at being moved out of the way whilst David got to stay beside Colby, but she hid her feelings and went to stand meekly by David's side.

"Colby, I'm Doctor Vassen, we need to remove the tube, when I say, I need you to cough, that will help me get the tube out, OK?" Colby nodded. The Doctor made a few more preparations then turned back to him. "Cough." Her patient coughed and she pulled the tube from his throat. She took an oxygen mask and connected it up, placing it over his face. "You'll need to use this for a while I'm afraid, we should be able to change it to a _nasal cannula later today." She spent the next few minutes telling him what had happened and about his injuries. She left assuring him that she would be back later on to check on him._

_The nurse stepped into the place vacated by the Doctor. "You need to remain nil by mouth for now, but you can have some ice chips, would you like some?"_

_Colby nodded and the nurse removed his oxygen mask long enough to pop one in his mouth._

_"Oh, let me do that." Said Jasmine. "I am sure you have other things to do and I want to help." The nurse smiled and handed the cup over. "Just make sure you put the oxygen mask back on." She said as she left._

_"You gave us quite a scare for a while." Jasmine spoke softly as she gave him another ice chip and replaced his oxygen mask._

_"Sorry" he whispered._

_"Don't be, your going to be fine now. I, we, will see to that."_

_Colby's eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep._


	10. Knife

**Disclaimer: As I have already mentioned, I do not own Numb3rs or any of the related characters. Jasmine is my creation.**

**Thanks for reading.**

Chapter Ten – Knife.

It had been 2 days since Colby had been taken off the ventilator, Dr Vassen was happy with his progress, he was being moved to a medical room and he was finally off the oxygen, though still receiving pain relief. The patient was starting to get fractious at being figuratively tied to his hospital bed, but the doctor had made it clear that any attempt on his part to get up before he was ready could lead to a longer stay in hospital, this threat had the desired effect of keeping him resting. His team and their extended family had been with him round the clock, including Jasmine. He felt extremely lucky to have such a strong support network and had been glad of the company during the night when he had woken with nightmares and had found it difficult to settle again. His move to a medical room would effectively put a stop to the extended visiting hours, but if he had his way he'd be out of the hospital in a few days.

He hadn't been settled in his new room long when there was a gentle knock on the door and Jasmine appeared.

"Hey you. How you feeling?" she asked, a smile lighting up her face.

"I'm OK, glad to be out of ICU. Just waiting for someone to let me outta this bed!"

"You know what the doctor said, just be patient."

"Yeah I know, but I'm not used to just laying around. I want to get up!"

Just as Jasmine was about to reply there was another knock on the door and Doctor Vassen appeared. "Are you grumbling about wanting to get out of bed Agent Granger?" Colby had the good grace to look embarrassed, Doctor Vassen laughed. "I have actually come to make your wish come true."

"Really? I can get up?"

"Just for an hour or so. We'll get you up and sit you in the chair next to the bed."  
"Aw come on Doc, can't I at least get outside? Please?"

She looked at her patient thoughtfully. "OK, I'll compromise. We'll get you out of bed and into a wheelchair, you can leave the ward for no more than 30 minutes, but I want your solemn promise you'll be back in this room after that time."

Colby smiled and nodded, delighted to have got this concession.

Shaking her head and wondering how she walked into that the doctor beckoned a nurse into the room to assist with getting Colby out of bed. Jasmine waited impatiently in the corridor for him and smiled when she saw him sitting in the wheelchair looking like he was ready to escape, permanently.

"Now remember what I said Colby. 30 minutes, you over do it now and it could set you back and I think the nurses are sick of looking at you!" Joked Doctor Vassen.

Colby put his hand over his heart. "I swear on my life Doc, I'll be back in 30 minutes."

"I'll make sure he follows your instructions Doctor Vassen." Asserted Jasmine, taking control of the chair and wheeling him passed the nurses station towards the elevators and, for Colby, a little bit of freedom.

She pushed him out into a courtyard area with plenty of shade and sat down on a bench next to him, just enjoying being with him. Colby looked round at the blue sky, the flowers in the courtyard and listened to the sound of the birds. He suddenly had a whole new appreciation for the world around him.

"How are you holding up, Jasmine?" He asked softly.

She turned to him. "Don't be worrying about me, you need to concentrate on getting better."

"I'm fine, I just want to make sure you are."

"Always worrying about others. I'm fine Colby, honestly. Jason is in prison where he belongs and I can start living my life without fear again."

"I'm glad."  
"I wish it hadn't nearly cost you your life though."

"It's a small price to pay to know that he can't hurt anyone anymore. It may not have been the best way to get him behind bars, but it was very effective. Attempted murder of a Federal Agent, kidnapping and weapons offences, he'll be going away for a long time."

Jasmine closed her eyes and tilted her head towards the sky, enjoying the feel of the warm sun on her face. "Thank you." She said, simply, opening her eyes she looked at him and they exchanged smiles. "Right, times up, back to your room."  
Colby groaned but didn't protest, although he'd not admit it he was starting to get tired, which he found unbelievable considering all the sleeping he'd been doing lately.

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Once the staff had safely returned Colby to his bed Jasmine returned to sit with him a little longer. His trip out had caused him a little discomfort, but nothing that wasn't to be expected following his injuries. The nurses left the door to the room open as they wanted to keep a close eye on him for a little while after his first foray out of bed.

She watched as Colby yawned and closed his eyes, before he could even think about saying anything he was asleep. She smiled, turned towards the open door and nodded her head at a figure standing outside in the corridor then leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, sighing contentedly.

A short time later when David arrived he found the pair still sleeping. He smiled to himself before going to speak to the nurses to find out how his partner was doing. He didn't want to wake either of them, they both needed their rest. The last few days had been hard on everyone.

Once the team had been assured of Colby's recovery they had turned their attentions to Jason Rutherford, they intended to make sure there was no way that the man could weasel his way out of the charges against him. He had lawyered up and was saying very little, but the evidence was enough to put him away for a long time, they didn't need a confession. The only thing that Rutherford would say was that he had been set up by Jasmine, considering the state of her when she was found cowering in the bathroom nobody believed a word of it.

It was clear to David, in fact to everyone but Colby, how Jasmine felt about him. He was glad that she cared so much for his friend and hoped that he would come to his senses. He wanted Colby to be as happy as he was with Claudia.

Once he'd spoken to the nursing staff he returned to the room. As he walked in Colby stirred and David walked up to the bed placing his finger to his lips and indicating a still sleeping Jasmine.

"Hey Dude." Whispered Colby "They finally let me outta bed."

"So I hear, another step closer to escape huh?"

"Oh yeah. The staff have been great, but I can't wait to get home."

David looked at his partner but decided now was not the time to broach the subject of where Colby was going to go once he was discharged. No way would he be fit to leave the hospital and go straight to living on his own. There had been a few discussions around this amongst the group. There were a few suggestions, but they were waiting until there was a definitive discharge date to raise it with Colby as they didn't think being told he couldn't go home would go down too well with the fiercely independent man.

"Not been given a date yet I take it?"

"Nope, Doctor Vassen has dropped hints, but nothing concrete yet." Sighed Colby.

"Come on man, you nearly died a few days ago, have some patience."

"That is not one of his strong suits." Came Jasmine's voice from behind David.

"Hey Jasmine, sorry I was trying not to wake you." Responded David. "You're right it isn't. I feel for the nursing staff!"

"Me too, you should have heard him bargaining with the doctor about whether he could go outside."

"Oh I can imagine, did he try the puppy dog eyes?"

"Yup. He sure did. Not sure that works on anyone, let alone Doctor Vassen."

"Hey you two, I am in the room ya know!"

David turned and winked at Jasmine before replying. "Yeah, but what ya gonna do about it?"

"Just you wait till I'm up and about Sinclair, I'll get ya back." He growled good naturedly.

"Uh huh, be a while before you can catch me dude." David shot back.

"Doncha have work to be doing?" asked Colby.

"Actually, as fun as this has been, yeah, I do." He sighed regretfully. "I better get back and pass on the news of your adventure into the big wide world! Both Don and Megan said they'd be by later."

"OK, thanks for stopping by man."

"No worries, take it easy and don't give the nurses a hard time, they're not going to let you out of here any quicker." With that David said bye to Jasmine and left the pair alone once more.

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David returned to FBI headquarters and was happily filling in Don and Megan on Colby's progress. They were as delighted as he to know their friend and colleague was on the mend, they missed him around the office, even the other agents had started to comment on how they couldn't stand a spoon up in the coffee because Granger wasn't around to make it.

At that moment David's desk phone rang.

"Sinclair…. Yes, OK, I'll be right down." He turned to his two colleagues. "That was the mail room, apparently a package has been delivered addressed to me and when it went through the metal detector it set it off. They scanned it and there's something wrong, but they won't tell me what, they want me to go down."  
"We'll come with you." Responded Don a note of concern in his voice.

The threesome descended to the ground floor and headed for the mail room.

"Hi, I'm Agent Sinclair…"  
"Agent Sinclair, I'm Donna Champion, I am the supervisor here." They shook hands and introductions were quickly made before they followed her back into her office.

"Due to the metal detector being set off we scanned the package, there is no incendiary device or anything of that nature, but there appears to be a knife of some description in the box." She showed them a picture. They exchanged puzzled glances. She indicated a box on her desk. "This is the box, once we were sure there was nothing that could injure anyone we felt it best to call you down here to open it."

David nodded and carefully opened the box, noting that there was no return address, what he saw when he removed the packaging around the contents made him feel ill.

"David? What is it?" Don tried to get his attention but he was unable to string a sentence together. He simply moved to one side to allow both Don and Megan to see what was inside. Don swore softly, whilst Megan clasped a hand over her mouth.

Laying in the box was a board, stuck to that was what appeared to be a photo of a sleeping Colby in his hospital bed with Jasmine asleep in a chair next to him, imbedded in the picture was a fierce looking knife. Someone had also taken the time to drip what appeared to be blood over the photo.

After a minute of stunned silence Don spoke. "I want a lab tech here now, they need to check for finger prints and run a DNA sequence on the blood." He turned to Donna Champion. "Who took delivery of the package? I need to know the name of the person who delivered it, what company they worked for, what they looked like." The woman nodded and hurried off to find the information. "There is no way to know if this is a threat against one or both of them. We need to get Jasmine into protective custody and get an agent on Colby right now."

At that moment a lab tech appeared, presumably called by an extremely efficient Donna. He was shown the box, given instructions and donning a pair of gloves removed the offending item to the lab for tests.

The team hurried out of the office and went back upstairs, Don headed to the AD's office to get authorisation for protection for both Jasmine and Colby. The AD was horrified to hear about the threat and immediately agreed to Don's request, placing Liz Warner temporarily back with the team to assist, after they had broken up she had gone to work for another team, but she was a good agent and he was happy to have someone familiar with the team assisting them.

Don quickly gave her a brief rundown of the situation, he told her about the funeral wreath and the glass as well. When he was finished he, Megan, David and Liz all headed out to the hospital.

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Colby frowned as the four agents trooped into his room, he could tell by their demeanours that something was up.

"What's going on?" He asked immediately.

Jasmine glanced from Colby to the four agents, one of whom she didn't recognise.

"There's been a development. David received a package at headquarters today, it contained a threat against you and Jasmine." Don decided not to beat around the bush and get the inevitable over and done with, he knew Colby was not going to be thrilled at the idea of being protected by others.

"What do you mean a threat? Is it possible that it was sent before Rutherford was locked up?"

David shook his head. "No man, that's not possible. There was a photo in the package of you and Jasmine, asleep, in this room. Exactly as I found you a few hours ago."

Jasmine gasped. "This can't be happening, I thought I was finally safe."

"We need to put you into protective custody Jasmine. Megan and Liz will take you somewhere and stay with you, it's for your own safety." Don quickly introduced Liz to Jasmine. She turned to look at Colby.

"You need to do as Don says Jasmine. You're not safe here with me."  
"What about you?"

"David and I will be staying with him." Before Colby could open his mouth to protest Don cut him off. "Don't even think about arguing with me about this Granger." His tone of voice brooked no argument.

"Jasmine, go with Liz and Megan, they'll look after you. Please."

"Will I be able to come and see you?"

"That will depend on whether they think it's safe or not. Don't worry, I'll be fine, you need to go with them now."

She nodded in acquiescence, leant over and kissed him on the cheek, upset that once again she was being taken away from him but doing what he asked because she cared for him. Colby watched them leave, Megan giving him a reassuring smile.

"Now are you going to tell me what exactly the threat was?" Colby asked once they were out of ear shot.

David filled him in and watched his friend's face go slightly paler.

"I don't understand this, any of it. Who the hell is after Jasmine now?"

"Colby, think about it, the previous threats, the wreath, the glass they were directed at you, this thing with Rutherford may have been a big red herring, a coincidence."

"Don, you know what Charlie would say about that."

"Yeah, statistically improbable, but not impossible though. Perhaps we need to ask him to take another look at this."

"I dunno, I don't want to put him at risk too. If this is directed at me I've already put Jasmine in harms way. I'm not prepared to risk anyone else to save my own ass, that includes the two of you."

"We're big boys, we can take care of ourselves. Without getting all big brother on you, you're in no condition to protect yourself, you need our help, it's time to get over yourself and accept it." Don was passed being nice, he decided that now was the time to be blunt.

Colby looked at his boss and partner, his friends and sighed, he knew if the roles were reversed he would say the same to either one of them. "OK, but can we agree not to involve Charlie, at least not for the time being."  
"You have a deal." Don and David exchanged glances, both relieved that he hadn't put up more of a fight.

A nurse chose that moment to enter the room, if she felt the tension she said nothing. "OK Colby, time for your pain meds." She poured him some water and handed him the tablets, which he reluctantly took. They knocked him out, but he was in pain and tired, he trusted the two men and decided now was no time to play the hero, he had to get better and find out who had turned his life upside down.

The nurse helped him settle lower in the bed, and once satisfied that her patient was comfortable she left the room turning out the main light and leaving only a bedside lamp lit.

David rested his hand gently on Colby's still bandaged arm. "Rest, I'll be here when you wake up, we've got your back."

Simply nodding, Colby closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

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Whilst Colby slept, David stayed at the hospital and Don returned to the FBI offices to follow up on the courier with Donna and to speak with the techs. He was not surprised to find that the courier company didn't recognise the man in the pictures taken from the security footage, he had been wearing dark glasses and a baseball cap pulled low to shadow his features, Don doubted his own mother would recognise him. The techs hadn't had much more luck, once again there were no finger prints and the blood wasn't a match to any DNA samples in the database. The knife in the box was a military one, but could be purchased at any army surplus store.

Once again they were at a dead end. He was worried about the safety of his team members, but especially about Colby. He resolved to do everything in his power to find out who was behind this and put them away for the rest of their natural lives. The team had been through so much he was damned if he was going to let some psycho tear them apart now.

He had agreed with David that he would head home to get some sleep before going back to the hospital to relieve him, so picking up his car keys he headed out, but instead of going back to his apartment he drove out to Charlie's. He had made a promise to Colby not to involve Charlie, and he was going to keep it, but that didn't mean he couldn't visit. Right now he needed the reassurance his brother and Dad could offer him.


	11. Letter Bomb

**Disclaimer: Don't own much of anything, let alone Numb3rs or the characters.**

**Thank you for the reviews so far and the Story Alerts. Thanks for reading.**

Chapter Eleven – Letter Bomb

"Come on, surely it's time?" Asked Colby, giving Doctor Vassen his most winning smile.

Rolling her eyes at him she replied "You don't give up do you?"

He shook his head in response. "Nope."

The doctor turned to David and Don looking for some assistance but the two men decided to keep out of it not wanting to incur the wrath of a cabin fever suffering Colby. To say he was beginning to behave like a caged animal was possibly an understatement.

"The surgery was only 9 days ago, you've only been up and about for 4 of those, even then that has been for a limited period."

"I'll discharge myself."

"That would not be wise. If you're going to leave here you need to do it with the support of the medical team and we will need to arrange out patient appointments for you."

"Then arrange them. I have to get out of here, I'm going crazy sitting around this room all day."

Sighing with frustration Doctor Vassen replied "You know it's not quite that easy. Anyway even if you're not in the hospital you need to be resting."  
"Fine, I'll rest, you can give me a schedule for it if you like, just let me outta here." He could sense the doctor waiver and was determined to get his own way. "I won't stop until you do."

"Alright, but you are absolutely not being discharged today. I will come by tomorrow morning and if I am satisfied that your health will not be compromised by releasing you…." A grin started to spread across Colby's face when the doctor raised her hand. "Before you get carried away I will need convincing that you have found someone to stay with and who will be willing to bring you into the hospital every other day for at least a week. We will discuss this again tomorrow morning." With that the doctor left the room, secretly she was pleased that he was doing so well, but he really could be a pain.

Don and David exchanged glances, neither of them had broached the subject of what would happen once Colby was discharged. Even if the doctor didn't feel he needed to have someone with him there was still the question of protection.

"Colby, where are you going to stay?" David raised an eyebrow at his partner, knowing he hadn't thought this through.

"That's no problem."

"No?" Asked Don sceptically.

"I'll be staying at my apartment."

"Uh huh. What about the part where you're supposed to be staying with someone?"

"I'll find someone, anyone, anything to get out of here."

"OK, reality check here dude. Firstly you need someone to keep an eye on you, don't look at me like that, its doctor's orders." Stated David "Secondly, are you forgetting about the threats? Your apartment would not be the best place for you right now even if you were at the peak of fitness. Luckily for you Don and I have already talked about this…."

"Oh, you have eh? I am not going into a safe house, no way."

"Will you let me finish!" Colby glared at him, not sure he was going to like where this was going, but he remained silent and allowed David to continue. "We discussed it and we think the best thing would be if you came to stay at my place."

"Yours, with you?"

"No, with Claudia… of course with me!"

"Aw, now that you've mentioned Claudia… can I stay with her instead?"

"That's it, Don, you deal with him."

Don had been watching the exchange with some amusement. "Colby, come on be serious for a minute man. We really do think this is the best way, nobody will know you're at David's except the team. One of us will be with you all the time."

Colby's attitude grew more sober, his tone becoming one of frustration. "I appreciate it, I really do," he said turning to David "but I hate this. I'm no longer in control of my own life. I'm putting the people I care about in danger."

"Hey man, you'd do the same for any one of us. Just let us help you. Please?" David cajoled.

Sighing, Colby nodded his agreement. "OK."

Relieved the other 2 agents relaxed, at least they knew Colby would be protected, even if they didn't know from what, exactly.

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It was a very happy Colby that got dressed ready to leave the hospital the next morning. He thanked the medical team that had saved his life profusely. He had seen Doctor Vassen, who had given both himself and David the list of do's and don'ts, including how much rest he should be getting, provided him with pain meds and the instructions on how many and when to take them along with a list of his outpatient appointments.

"If you are concerned at any time then call the hospital." This last was directed at David as she doubted her patient would pick up the phone and admit there was a problem.

"I will Doctor Vassen. Thanks for patching him up, he's a pain in the ass, but he's ours!" He winked at her and she smiled back, shaking her head, part of her was going to miss Colby and his friends, but as always she was happy to watch a patient get up and walk out.

"Thanks again Doc." Colby shook her hand and pulled her forward to plant a kiss on her cheek causing her to blush.

"You're welcome, now get out of here before I change my mind."

They walked away from the nurses' station to the elevators.

"Oh man, you are lucky Jasmine wasn't here to see that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ah come on, don't pretend you don't know! Jasmine is crazy about you."

"We're friends, that's all, I can't have a girlfriend in my life right now, not with all this going on, she wouldn't be safe."

David nodded, he understood, if the situation were reversed he would be terrified of something happening to Claudia. "But if this were over…?"

"I dunno, maybe." Colby allowed himself a small smile.

The elevator doors opened and David turned to his friend. "Come on, let's get you outta here."

"Don't have to tell me twice." They got on the elevator and left the hospital to go to David's apartment.

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Colby had been to David's apartment lots of times but had never stayed over. He followed him into the spare room where David placed his bag on the bed.

"Do you need a hand unpacking?"

"Nah, I think I can manage that."

"OK, if you need anything just let me know."

"Thanks man."

He then left the room closing the door behind him. He had been watching his partner closely since they left the hospital and he was already showing signs of fatigue.

Colby unpacked his things and then lowered himself gently down on to the bed, he'd just stretch out for a few minutes…

David checked on him a little while later and smiled to see that he had fallen fast asleep. He decided to let him rest, the doctor had said this might happen and if he needed to sleep then he shouldn't fight it. Closing the door again he went to call Claudia. The woman never ceased to amaze him with her patience and understanding. Having Colby here would mean that it wasn't safe for her to come over but when he had broached the subject she hadn't hesitated to support him. She had said that if Don was with Colby then David could head over to hers and stay. It was an arrangement that, whilst not ideal, would work on a temporary basis.

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Colby woke with a start, at first he was disorientated and didn't remember where he was, but it only took a few seconds to realise he was at David's. He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep like that, he must have been more tired than he had thought. Getting up he headed to the guest bathroom to freshen up then went in search of David. He found him in the kitchen making some lunch.

"Hey sleeping beauty." David grinned at him.

"Oh nice, pick on the defenceless injured man."

"Please, injured yes, defenceless no, you've still got your gun! Do you want some lunch?"

"Yeah, that would be good, thanks."

"Go sit yourself down and I'll bring it out."

"I can carry a plate you know, I'm not completely useless."

"Nobody said you were but there's someone waiting in the sitting room to see you." Smiled David.

Colby headed into the sitting room thinking it must be Don or Megan since nobody but the team, and Claudia, were supposed to know he was here. When he walked through the door he saw Megan and Liz sitting on the sofa opposite Jasmine, as he entered the room, she stood up and smiled.

"Well hello stranger." Jasmine had been going nuts shut away in the safe house with Megan and Liz. She hadn't been allowed to visit Colby since she had been whisked off from the hospital, though they had talked on the phone. The agents had finally caved and agreed that she could visit him once he was safely ensconced with David. They felt the risk to the pair was less as only a handful of people knew where Colby was now.

"Hey yourself." He leant down and gave her a peck on the cheek, then turned to Megan and Liz, he nodded in greeting.

"Good to see you up and about Granger." Said Liz, Megan nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, it feels good."

Just then David entered the room and placed food down on the table in front of them. "Help yourselves." He turned and headed back to the kitchen, Colby went to follow him to help, but Jasmine grabbed his hand.

"Sit down and rest, I'll help David." She smiled and went into the kitchen, coming out a few minutes later carrying a tray of drinks.

Once David joined them the five tucked in to the food provided, Colby happy to be eating anything that wasn't hospital food.

For the next hour or so there was much laughter as they bought each other up on the latest news in each of their lives.

Liz filled them in on what she had been doing since she had moved from Don's team, she was now back working with the drug unit and was telling them about the team members. She was really happy with her current team, but still missed the camaraderie their team shared, not to mention the visits to the Eppes house.

Megan had Colby trying hard not to split his stitches as she told him about Larry's latest escapades at Cal Sci. He would never understand that particular pairing, but it worked and they were very happy together.

Jasmine told him about the boutique and how she had got a friend to go in as a partner, it had been difficult as she wasn't allowed to know where Jasmine was, but with the use of the internet, safely secured and set up with the help of the FBI techs, they had managed to choose the stock together. Megan had agreed that she would go with Jasmine the next day to the boutique and allow her some time to set up ready to open in a few weeks. After all life still went on.

David happily sat back and watched his friend truly relax for the first time since he came round in hospital. He knew that having Jasmine, Liz and Megan to visit would be a good idea, just the distraction that was needed. Throughout the time the others were there he had been keeping a watchful eye, looking for signs that Colby was beginning to tire, after a couple of hours he saw the first indication when he winced as he moved. David nodded discreetly at Megan who understood immediately.

"Right ladies, it's time to go I'm afraid. I think Colby needs to rest."

"I'm fine."

"She's right, we should get going." Jasmine stated. "It's been good to see you, I hope it won't be too long before I can see you again." She leant down and kissed his cheek gently. "Rest."

Liz and Megan said their goodbyes, thanked David for lunch then led Jasmine out of the building. As they got in the car she gave one last, longing glance towards the apartment, wishing that they could have stayed longer, yet knowing that it wasn't possible. This was it for now, a few snatched moments, but she knew their chance would come.

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The next day Don took Colby for the first of his outpatient appointments, Doctor Vassen had wanted someone to check on him after his first day out of hospital to ensure that he was following the instructions she'd given him and to check his wound was healing as it should. He was told it would be at least another week before he was able to have the stitches out and that he still had to be careful not to do anything to pull them.

On the way back to David's apartment they stopped and grabbed some lunch, after all they needed to eat and it was good for Colby to be out and about a little. It wasn't long before he became tired though and they headed back. He went straight to the bedroom and laid down, the doctor hadn't been joking when she said he'd feel tired, he was asleep as soon as his head made contact with the pillow.

Don went into the sitting room to carry on with some paperwork he had yet to finish, David was over at Claudia's having some down time but would be back shortly to relieve him.

Don heard a key in the door and got up to greet David as he came in.

"How'd it go?"

"Yup, no problems. How's Claudia?"

David smiled. "Good. It was nice to spend some time with her, thanks for taking Colby to the hospital."

"Hey, don't mention it. You have to put up with him more than me, least I could do was make sure he made his first appointment."

"Did he grumble?"

"Oh yeah. Didn't see why he had to go back to the hospital so soon. Poor nurse that checked him over couldn't wait to see the back of him."

"Well that's one way to get outta there fast I suppose." The two men chuckled.

"Right, I'm gonna get going, promised Dad I'd go over and have dinner with him and Charlie, but have to pop into the office first."

"Say hi to them for me."  
"Will do, call if you need anything."

David walked Don to the door and locked it behind him. He then went to do some of his own paperwork. At least being at home with Colby meant that he was catching up on the admin side of his job, which they all hated.

He had been at it a couple of hours when he heard the door to the bedroom open, and a dishevelled looking Colby walked into the sitting room a few seconds later.

"Hey man, how ya feeling?"

"Better for having had that sleep, thanks. I didn't think going to the hospital and grabbing some lunch would be so tiring, plus that nurse knew no mercy when she started prodding me."

David allowed himself a smile. "From what Don said you gave that nurse a hard time."

"If I did, I didn't mean to. I just hate feeling so….."

"Weakened." Supplied David

"Yeah, and useless."

"You gotta cut yourself some slack dude. Give yourself time, listen to the medical staff and you'll be back to normal before you know it." He knew that it would drive him crazy if roles were reversed, so he tried to show some empathy.

"I know, you're right." Sighed Colby "How was Claudia, is she mad at me for monopolising your time?"

"She's good thanks, and no, how can she be mad at you when it's out of your control? I am sure you'll find a way to make it up to her next time one of us needs to stay back at the office." He smiled "Why don't I get started on dinner? Megan has said she'll pop over and I invited her to join us."

"Cool. Need a hand?"

"Nah, think I can manage, Alan sent over some meals so only need to reheat them in the oven."  
"Excellent, love that man's cooking."

David grinned and headed into the kitchen.

Colby was about to lower himself into a chair when the doorbell rang, unlike his apartment David's was open fronted, no secure entry system.

"I'll get it, gotta be Megan." He turned to the front door, and being the cautious FBI agent he was looked through the peephole. It wasn't Megan standing the other side, in fact Colby didn't recognise the guy. He was wearing a delivery company uniform. Odd, David hadn't mentioned he was waiting for anything.

"Yo, man, you expecting a delivery?"

"What? Can't hear you. Hang on…"

Colby turned to walk towards the kitchen, he wasn't opening the door until he confirmed with his partner all was on the up and up. As David came out of the kitchen there was a loud noise and both men were knocked off their feet, and showered with wood, concrete and glass. David was thrown into the wall and his head hit with a resounding thud, knocking him out cold. Colby was thrown forward onto a wooden table which disintegrated as he landed on it, the air knocked out of him. He knew an explosion when he heard and felt one, pausing for just a second he turned onto his back, quickly assessing the situation. There was a gaping hole where the door and window had once been, they were laying in pieces around him. Whatever had exploded had caused extensive damage to the front of the apartment, but luckily there was no fire, at least not yet. He wasn't going to wait around to find out what had happened. Looking round he spotted David laying, unmoving, on the floor. Getting carefully to his feet he picked his way over to his friend and checked his pulse, relieved to find he had one. He shook him gently, to no avail. Not stopping to wonder if he should, he bent down and pulled David up on to his feet and then draped the unconscious man over his shoulder, he had not time to worry about any injuries either of them had sustained, he just knew he had to get them out. Taking a moment to steady himself he turned back towards where the door had once been, paying careful attention, checking to see there was nothing he could trip over or that could fall on them, then he made his way slowly outside.

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Megan pulled into the parking lot outside David's apartment, she was just stepping out of her car when the sound of what could only be a small incendiary device going off had her ducking for cover. As soon as she was sure that there was no danger, none of the flying debris had made it across the lot, she pulled herself to her feet and simultaneously started running for the building and calling dispatch. She announced who she was and demanded back up, LAFD, paramedics and that a message be passed to Don to get to her location yesterday. Not waiting to hear confirmation of her request she made it to the bottom of the stairwell only to see Colby slowly and carefully making his way down, she might have been relieved if he didn't have the body of his partner draped over his shoulders. Hurrying up the stairs she guided him down the rest of the way and helped him lay David down.

"What the hell happened?" she asked as she knelt down beside the prone man and checked him for any bleeding. He had a nasty looking cut on the back of his head where it had struck the wall and a vicious looking piece of wood sticking out of his right arm, but other than that she couldn't find any external damage.

His ears were still ringing from the noise and her voice was muffled, but he got the idea of what she wanted to know. "I dunno, some guy rang the bell, the next thing I'm face down in David's hall and he's out cold. If I had to guess the guy was delivering something which blew up in his face, quite literally."

"Are you OK? Are you hurt?"

He coughed, the dust from the explosion had irritated his lungs, but nodded. "I'm ok Megan."

Before she could respond the sound of sirens approaching stopped her. She looked up to see LAFD screeching to a halt, closely followed by Don in his SUV, he had barely turned off the engine before he was out and across the lot, reaching them seconds after an LAFD medic. Megan stepped aside allowing the medic to look after David. The medic rapid fired some questions in Colby's general direction, responding in kind he then stepped to one side as well, joining Megan and Don.

"Col, are you alright, you're shivering?" Don's voice was laced with concern.

"Yeah, I'm OK."

Not convinced Don headed to his SUV and came back with an FBI sweatshirt. "You left this behind earlier, put it on."

Grateful for something warm to wear over his thin black t-shirt Colby pulled it on over his head, just managing to hide the wince of pain that crossed his face as he did so. The movement seemed to set off his coughing again, which did not go unnoticed by the nearby LAFD medic. Once David was secured on a backboard and loaded into the ambulance the medic approached the three agents.

"I think you'd better come in and get checked over."

"Thanks, but not necessary, I'm fine." Unfortunately for Colby his body disagreed and he was once more wracked by a coughing fit.

"Uh huh, that's why you sound like you've just smoked 20 cigarettes."

"Go. We'll be along shortly, once we're sure the scene is secure and the techs have arrived."

Looking balefully at Don, Megan and a determined LAFD medic he thought it prudent not to argue for the time being, besides he wanted to make sure his partner was alright and the longer they stood there debating the more time passed in getting David to the hospital. Nodding he followed the medic to the ambulance and climbed in. In no time at all they were at the hospital, they whisked David to a trauma room and left Colby to book them both in at reception. Left to his own devices, however, the only details he passed over were David's.

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An hour later Don and Megan entered the ER and found Colby sitting waiting.

"Any news?"

"Not yet."

"Did someone take a look at you?"

"Yup, I'm fine." He lied.

Megan didn't look convinced, he had multiple cuts to his face and hands which, though only small, didn't look like they'd been treated, before she could call him on it a doctor approached.

"Agent Granger?"

"Doctor Jensen? Didn't expect to see you, do you ever go home?"

"It seems I'm destined to be in the ER whenever you or a colleague come in."

"You're treating David, how is he?"

"Yes, I am. He's fine. Conscious, if a bit groggy. He has a concussion and we had to remove a piece of wood from his upper right arm for which he has received stitches, a slight loss of hearing, but that should correct itself over the next couple of days. We're going to keep him in overnight, but merely as a precaution. Would you like to see him?"

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks Doc."

They followed him through to the trauma room.

The three agents still standing gathered round his bed.

"Hey David, how are you doing?"

"Had better days Megan, but I'm told I'll live."

"So we hear, good news." Smiled Don.

"Can't get rid of me that easily." He looked over at Colby "You OK?"

"Yeah."

David thought his partner looked rather pale for someone who was OK, but decided not to press the point, they'd both been through a bit of an experience and he was still recovering from the surgery.

Colby was relieved to see that his partner was alright. He felt the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body since the explosion start to ebb. He listened to the conversation between his friends, realising that, even with his slightly impaired hearing, their voices were beginning to sound far off. He started coughing again and was shocked to realise that it hurt, he hadn't noticed that before. What was going on? Putting his hand on his torso, where he had been cut open to stop the internal bleeding and remove his spleen, he realised that his clothes felt wet, and looking down saw blood on his hand. Now he knew that wasn't right. Ah crap, he was going to get into big trouble for this. He turned to get someone's attention, but before he could open his mouth, he passed out in a heap on the floor.


	12. Missing

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or any of the characters. I do own Jasmine.**

**Really appreciate the reviews and thank you to those who are reading and sticking with it.**

Chapter Twelve – Missing

Everyone in the room turned when they heard the thud of Colby hitting the floor, there was a brief moment of stunned silence before Don knelt beside the fallen agent and Megan hurried to the door to get help. David lay helpless. "Is he OK? What's happening?"

Doctor Jensen dashed back into the room, knelt down and felt for a pulse, finding one he sighed with relief and motioned to an orderly to bring the gurney in, with the assistance of Don, Megan and a couple of nurses they managed to lift him on to it and he was wheeled out.

"Stay here, I'll find you when I know what's going on." Stated Doctor Jensen following the gurney out of David's room.

"Oh god, he must have been injured and not said anything."

"Stubborn, pig headed…"

"Foolhardy idiot." Finished Megan. "I knew he was lying when he said he'd been seen by medical staff."  
"Hang on, we don't know he was lying, he may have and just played down his injuries."

Turning to a nurse who had just entered the room to check on David, "Sorry to bother you, but is there anyway to find out if Agent Colby Granger was seen by any medical staff here at the hospital tonight, prior to this incident?" Megan asked.

"Yes, of course. I'll check for you." She left the room, returning a few minutes later. "No, he booked Agent Sinclair in but didn't see anyone himself."

"I don't think foolhardy idiot quite covers it." Sighed Megan.

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"Lets get some oxygen going, get me a line in. Cut off his clothes, come on people, need to find out what the hell is going on here." Doctor Jensen barked orders.

Colby became aware of someone placing something over his face, his eyes slowly opened taking in this sudden turn of events.

"What….?"

"Colby, you're alright, it's Doctor Jensen, just lay still for me."

He felt a slight scratch in the back of his hand and watched as a bag of saline was hung, people were pulling at his clothes. He was surrounded by people and he didn't like it, not one bit, too many memories of the night the team rescued him from Rutherford's warehouse. Panicking he started to struggle against the hands and his breathing became rapid.

"Calm down. We need to examine you." The words had no effect, Doctor Jensen motioned for everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and step back from the bed. Stepping in to Colby's line of sight he looked the young man directly in the eye. "We're just trying to help, you're bleeding and we need to see where that's coming from. You need to calm your breathing, slow, easy breaths. I don't want to have to sedate you."

"Too many people." Stammered Colby.

"OK, hang on." He rested his hand on the shoulder of a shaken Colby, turned to the staff. "I need everyone but one nurse to leave the room please. Thank you." After they had left he turned to his patient. "Just me and Nurse Stevens now, OK?"

He took an unsteady breath, but nodded, allowing the nurse to finish cutting away his top and the doctor to examine him.

"It's not quite as bad as it looks, though you should have told someone sooner that you were bleeding."

"Had no idea."

The doctor looked doubtful.

"Had no pain. Was in with David, coughed and suddenly hurt like hell."

"You've pulled open your wound from the operation." Turning to the nurse "Page the on call surgeon, I think this will have to be repaired in the OR."

Feeling calmer now. "How did I not realise?"

"Adrenaline can do funny things to us. I would suggest that until you saw Agent Sinclair your mind was otherwise occupied, once you realised he was, indeed, going to be alright, you relaxed, the adrenaline left and so did you, temporarily at least. I also think you're probably suffering from delayed shock. Nurse Stevens is going to give you some morphine to help with the pain, the surgeon should be here soon"  
"I'm cold." As if to emphasise the point he shivered violently.

Nurse Stevens immediately brought an extra blanket and laid it over him, then administered the dose of morphine through his IV cannula.

Colby closed his eyes and the next time he opened them a familiar face loomed over him and she didn't look too happy to see him.

"Hey Doctor Vassen."

"Don't hey me Agent Granger. I told you to take it easy."

"Not my fault. Explosion. David was hurt, had to get out."

"Well you're going to pay the price for your heroics now, I'm going to have to take you back into the OR, you've torn out internal stitches as well as the outer ones, if I don't repair it then you risk getting an infection. It means another general anaesthetic. Though it will only be for a short time at least."

"Any other choice?"

"No. I can't do it under sedation as the internal stitching is deep and it would be too painful."

"Go home afterwards?"

"No chance, you're here for at least 24 hours." Rolling her eyes the doctor turned and spoke to a porter, instructing him to take the patient up to the OR.

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Colby woke to the annoying beep of machines monitoring his heart rate and O2 levels. He tried to move and immediately regretted it as his sore abdomen objected.

"Lay still. The procedure went well and you were only under for about 30 minutes, but you are going to be sore again for a while." Colby opened his eyes to see Doctor Vassen checking his vitals. "I've arranged to have you moved to the same room as Agent Sinclair shortly."

"Is he OK?"

"Yes, he's probably got a headache worse than any hangover and he will have to be careful not to pull the stitches in his arm, but he will be just fine. Thanks to you, apparently the ceiling collapsed just after the pair of you got out."

Colby closed his eyes, glad that his friend was relatively uninjured, but feeling guilty about the fact that his apartment had become a target, most likely because of him.

Doctor Vassen rested her hand on Colby's. "You were both very lucky, your injuries could have been much worse."

He merely nodded and closed his eyes, a short time later a porter arrived and he was accompanied by a nurse to the room he was to stay in for the next 24 hours, once again at the mercy of Doctor Vassen.

His bed was pushed into a room with a second bed and a curtain separating the two. Once he was settled and the nurse had made sure he was comfortable she pulled the curtain back revealing David in bed with Don and Megan sitting next to him.

Standing up Megan walked over to him and rested her hand on his arm. "Hey, you gave us a bit of a fright. How you feeling?"

"Sorry, I'm OK." He murmured, he looked over at David. "How you doing man?"

"I have a headache and my arm is throbbing, but I'm alive, thank you."

Colby simply waved his hand dismissively.

Don and Megan exchanged glances but said nothing about Colby's attitude, sure that the man was just suffering the after effects of the explosion.

"I'm going to go back and check on Liz and Jasmine." Stated Megan.

"I need to go and check on things at the office. There is an agent outside." Both the agents left leaving their two bed ridden colleagues to rest.

Colby turned his head away from David's direction and closed his eyes, feigning sleep. Sighing David gave up on the idea of talking to his partner.

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Don arrived back at the hospital after spending a couple of hours learning precisely nothing. All the coroner could tell him about the person that knocked on the door prior to the explosion, and now lay dead on the table, was that the body belonged to a male, aged 30-35, 6 feet tall. There were no fingerprints and they would need to rely on DNA and dental records to identify the man, a lengthy process. The techs were still sifting through the evidence they had collected and wouldn't know anything about the bomb until at least the next day.

Entering the hospital room quietly so as not to disturb either of his agents he found that David was awake and approached his bed. "Hey." He took one look at his face and knew something was wrong. "What's up? Something happened with Colby?"

"Yes… well no…. I mean…"

"You're gonna have to help me out here."

"It's just after you left he wouldn't speak to me, just turned his head away." David replied softly.

"Ah, right. I think it's possibly just shock."

"Maybe."

"David, man, come on, whatever else he's your friend, he'll talk to you when he's ready, you need to stop worrying and get some rest."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."  
"Course I am." Smiled Don. Leaning over he turned off the light over David's bed. "Sleep." He settled into a chair between the two beds where he could be close to both agents. Despite what he had said to David he was worried about Colby's reaction. He leant back in the chair and closed his eyes, it had been a very long day.

Colby groaned softly as he tried to find a more comfortable position, his abdomen was protesting to any movement, the noise woke Don with a start and he turned quickly to check on both men. David was still sleeping soundly. Noting that Colby was moving restlessly he moved closer to his bed. "Hey, you alright?" he asked softly.  
"Yeah, just uncomfortable."

"Want me to get a nurse?"

"Nah, it'll be fine in a minute."

"You know what happened isn't your fault, don't you?" Don's question was met with stony silence. "Colby, look at me." Once the younger man was looking at him Don continued. "You are not to blame."

"Of course I am. If I hadn't been there David's apartment would be intact and he wouldn't be laying in a hospital bed."

"You can't know that. Who's to say that he wasn't the target? If he was and you were elsewhere maybe the ceiling would have collapsed on him."  
"Really? How likely do you think that is? How can you be sure?"

"Man, that's the point. We can't be sure. There is no point in second guessing ourselves now. What's done is done. The main thing is that both of you are alive to tell the tale."

"I'm… well, I guess, I'm struggling with this. I became part of the FBI to help people, not to put them in harms way. How do I reconcile myself with the fact that people I care about are getting hurt?"

"You have to ask yourself, if the roles had been reversed and it was David being targeted, or any one of the team, if you would have done anything differently. The answer is no, you wouldn't. All you need to know is that we all trust you with our lives, and in return we know that you trust us with yours."

Colby remained silent for several minutes, contemplating what Don had said, he couldn't deny the logic. He would die to save any member of his team or their families, he couldn't take away from them the fact that they would do the same for him. Just as he was about to respond a figure appeared in the doorway.

"Megan, what's up?"

She stepped into the room looking from Colby to Don. "Er, can I speak to you outside for a minute, please, Don?"

"Hold up, what's going on?" Asked Colby, he could tell something was wrong and whatever it was Megan really didn't want him to know.

She looked at Don helplessly. He shrugged and indicated that she should just tell them, whatever was going on it obviously involved Colby somehow, so they would have to tell him sooner or later.

"Jasmine is missing. I went back to the safe house, Liz said that she was in the bedroom, I was going to let her know you were OK. I knocked and when I got no answer went into the room, she was gone."

"What?" Colby started to try to sit up, he grimaced with pain, but this didn't prevent him from continuing to try to get out of bed.

"What do you think you're doing? Get back into bed." Megan hurried to his side.

"We've got to find her."  
"And we will, but right now you are in no shape to be getting out of bed."

Ignoring his boss and the pain stabbing through his abdomen, he swung his legs off the bed so he was sitting up. By now David was awake and had heard Megan say that Jasmine was missing.

"Colby, don't be an idiot, you're going to kill yourself."

"Don't be so melodramatic man. I tore my stitches, that's all."

"If you don't get back in that bed right now, I'm gonna get up outta mine and put your ass back in it."

"Uh huh, you and what army Sinclair? Not exactly in top shape yourself are ya?"

"Enough!" Ordered Don as he watched the two men glare at each other across the room, before he could utter another word Colby was on his feet, though he didn't manage to stay there long, before he could take even one step he was in a heap on the floor clutching his abdomen. Don rolled his eyes in frustration, sometimes it was like he was dealing with toddlers who needed a time out. He turned when he heard a commotion at the door to the room and was relieved to see that Megan had gone for reinforcements in the form of a formidable looking nurse.

"Agent Granger, what do you think you are doing out of bed?" She stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

"Leaving."

"Hmmm, looks more like you're sitting on the floor to me young man. Now are you going to let me help you get back into bed or do I need to page Doctor Vassen? She gave me strict orders to let her know if you misbehaved, said something about keeping you in for a week if she had to."

As much as Colby would have liked to argue more he was beginning to feel sick with the waves of pain coursing through his body, not to mention he didn't want Doctor Vassen to find out about this escapade and keep him in. "Alright." He mumbled.

Nodding, the nurse, with Don's help, got Colby back on his feet and back into bed. She pulled the covers back over him. It didn't go unnoticed by the seasoned nurse that her patient was wincing with every movement, without another word she left the room and was back a few minutes later wielding a syringe.

"What's that?" asked a wary Colby.

"Morphine."

He started to protest, then taking a look at her face decided that was a bad idea and allowed her to administer the drug into the cannula in the back of his hand.

"Any more nonsense about discharging yourself and I will call Doctor Vassen, you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am."

Satisfied that her patient was as comfortable as he could be, she left, ordering both men in the beds to get some rest.

"We'll find her Colb, I promise." Don tried to reassure him, nodded to David and left the room with Megan.

"Sorry man, dunno what came over me."

"It's OK Colby, really, just get some rest."

Nodding he allowed the morphine to take over and closed his eyes.

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Megan and Liz stood in the hallway of the safe house discussing how Jasmine had got out without being seen and where she might go.

"She must have climbed out the window."

"I thought they were all locked."

"Apparently not." Stated Liz. "The question we should be asking is where did she go?"  
"Did she even go willingly do you think?"

"Well there's no sign of a struggle, but I suppose someone could have used a different sort of force."

"Yeah, like blackmail."  
"You don't think someone got her to leave by threatening Colby do you, how could they have contacted her?"

"I don't know, but something made her leave."

"Anything happen whilst you were at the boutique with her today?"

"No, not that I noticed, but that's a good place to start first thing tomorrow. It's too late now. We might as well head home and meet at the boutique in the morning."

"OK."

The two female agents left the safe house heading to their respective homes, both were annoyed that Jasmine had slipped out, and concerned about her safety. This latest incident involving Colby was the most violent yet, the perp was clearly escalating and didn't care who else he, or she, hurt. If Jasmine was part of the reason for these attacks she was in danger and was out there on her own. Both women also knew that Colby would be unbearable until they found where she was, this wasn't good at a time when he needed to rest in order to heal.

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The following morning Liz and Megan were outside the boutique Jasmine and her friend, Anna, were supposed to be opening together. They went round to the back entrance and rang the bell. The door was opened by Anna.

"Agent Reeves. Is everything OK?"

"Hello Anna, this is Agent Warner, we're wondering if you have seen or heard from Jasmine?"

"Come in." She motioned the agents into the shop and closed the door. "I haven't spoken to her since yesterday as you left. I thought she was with you."

"Anna, she's missing, we think she climbed out of her bedroom window at the house we were staying in. We need to find her."

"I haven't heard from her, I would tell you if I had."

"Alright, well if you do hear from her, here's my card, call me straight away."

"Of course." Anna took the card and showed them out.

"What now?" sighed Liz.

"I dunno, we've checked her house, I'm not sure where else to look. We'll need to talk to Colby and if he can't come up with anything we may have to speak to Rutherford."

"I am not looking forward to either of those conversations!"

"Me neither."


	13. Nuisance

**Disclaimer: I really should just copy and paste this bit! I do not own Numb3rs or any of the characters. Jasmine is from my imagination.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter Thirteen – Nuisance

Megan and Liz walked into Colby and David's room to find them talking with Don about what was going to happen when Colby was released from the hospital.

"We don't know yet when you're getting out of here."  
"Today." Growled Colby.

"I don't think that's up to you dude." Said David nodding his head towards the door where Doctor Vassen stood listening.

"Oh, er, afternoon Doc."

The others in the room exchanged amused glances.

"Afternoon Agent Sinclair, Agent Granger. How are you both feeling today?"

"I'm good to go, Doc, already got my discharge papers." Responded David somewhat smugly since his partner was still in bed whilst he was up and dressed.

"Good to hear Agent Sinclair." Turning to Colby she raised an eyebrow questioningly. "I'm good, can I get out of here?"

"I need to examine you first, can everyone please step out for a moment."

The others gathered in the hallway whilst the Doctor examined him.

"If she discharges him where is he going to go?" asked Liz.

"Safe house." Replied Don immediately.

"He'll never agree to it."

"David, he is going to have to, anywhere else is just too risky for him now."

"What about Jasmine?"

"Liz and I checked her house and the boutique. Her partner hasn't seen her but will call if she hears from her. I figured we'd ask Colby for some suggestions and if he can't help we'll have to speak to Rutherford."

Just then the door to the room opened and Doctor Vassen stepped out. "He's all yours, just make sure he follows my previous instructions." She started to walk off down the corridor. "Oh and good luck, I think you might need it."

"Thanks Doc." The four agents entered the room again.

"Colby, can you think of anywhere other than her house or the boutique that Jasmine would go?"

"No, sorry, I've been trying to think of somewhere she may have mentioned, but I can't come up with anything."

"OK, Megan and I will go interview Rutherford. David and Liz take Colby to that address I gave you."

"What address?"

"We're not telling you, just trust me. The only people that are going to know where you are will be the rest of us and the AD, that's it. We're taking no more chances." Replied Don. "Look, I'm sorry, but you have no other choice."

"I know." Stated Colby resignedly. "I don't have to like it though."

A short time later the five agents left the hospital together, Megan and Don left in the direction of the Federal holding facility, whilst David, Colby and Liz headed to the safe house that Don had secured.

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Don and Megan entered the interview room and waited for Rutherford to be bought to meet with them.

"Do you really think he'll tell us anything?"

"I dunno, he has a controlling personality and Jasmine has taken that control away from him by getting Colby's help. He probably cares about her in his own twisted way." Replied Megan.

"I hope he is feeling co-operative, I don't fancy telling Colby we still have nothing to go on."

"I'll toss you for who has to tell him."

Before Don could respond the door to the interview room opened and Rutherford was led in and sat down opposite them.

"Whaddya want?" he snarled.

"Information." Stated Don.

"Why should I give you anything?"

"Because it involves Jasmine, and any help will be looked upon favourably."

"What's that crazy bitch done now?"

"She's missing." Megan replied.

"Missing huh? Don't tell me you wanna know if I know where she might go?"

"Yes. Look Jason, despite your posturing and your, shall we use the phrase poor treatment, of her at your last meeting it's clear that you still have feelings for her."

"Maybe, but she made me look like a fool. Having her FBI buddy arrest me for harassment."

Don's phone rang and he answered it, stepping in to the corner of the room furthest away from Rutherford so the other side of the conversation could not be overheard. After a few minutes he thanked the person on the other end of the line and finished the call, turning back to Rutherford. "Now there's an interesting turn of events." He said.

Jason simply raised an eyebrow.

"It seems the man that delivered the rather explosive package that injured two of my agents works for you." There was a steely glint in Don's eyes.

"Who? I dunno what you're talking about."

"Let me refresh your memory. A guy by the name of Jack Bonner, he got himself all dressed up like a delivery guy to deliver what we now know to be a letter bomb to an address where two agents were staying. It seems that Jack wasn't all that good at his job since the bomb blew up in his face, quite literally. He is now laying in pieces on a table in the morgue."

"I don't know nothin' about no bomb. Jack stopped working for me about a year ago. Professional differences."

"Is that right? So it's just a coincidence that he happens to attempt to deliver a bomb to the agent that you so recently tried to kill?"

"Agent Granger? Hey, that was business, it wasn't personal. I'm already facing an attempted murder charge, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to use one of my employees, past or present, to carry a hit out on him? Give me some credit."

"Well, you see Rutherford, everything about you tells me that you're not quite bright. Kidnapping an FBI agent, for starters, is kind of a red flag on that front." Megan chimed in.

"I admit that wasn't my finest moment, however this was not me."

"OK lets try another subject. Jasmine. Do you know where she might go? There was no sign of a struggle so we think she left of her own volition."

"I'm telling you if your Agent is mixed up with her, he is in a whole world of trouble. She comes across as all sweetness and light, but she's a devious minx. She'll wrap him around her little finger, use him, chew him up and spit him out."

"We're supposed to believe this because….?"

"Don't take my word for it, check it out for yourselves. I met her whilst taking a vacation in the UK. She was hot, still is to be truthful."

"Get on with it. I would like to get out of here today." Sighed Megan.

Rutherford glared at her but carried on. "She told me that she'd just broken up with this guy, that he was a real piece of work. Used to knock her about and stuff. Apparently she had filed countless reports with the police, but there was nothing they could do, her word against his, right? Anyways she carried on the sob story with a tale about how the neighbours hated her and were abusive because they thought this guy was great and that she treated him badly. I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Before I knew it I was paying for her to fly to the US with me and we were engaged."

"OK, not hearing anything to overly point at her as a crazy person to be wary of."

"I found out, years later when I was in too deep to really care, that she had lied. She was the abusive one. Not physically, but verbally. If her neighbours upset her then she would damage their cars and property. I'm telling ya, this woman is a real bunny boiler. She made a real nuisance of herself, that's why she set her sights on me, she could get a fresh start in the States."

"You have proof of this?"

"Nah, but a reliable source told me there were lots of reports filed by people against her, including the so called abusive boyfriend."

"You stayed with her out of the goodness of your heart once you found this out?" snorted Don.

"What can I say? I was one hundred percent, head over heels, blinded by love for her."

"Well that's all very well, but still doesn't tell us where she might go."

"Got a pen and paper? I'll write some places down for you, but only because I wanna make sure my girl is safe from anyone who might be trying to get to me through her."

"Oh, you're a prince among men." Don rolled his eyes and handed the man a pen and pad, not believing one word of his story. He'd have agents and LAPD check the locations provided, but he'd ensure they went slowly and carefully in case any of the places turned out to be a set up by Rutherford.

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David and Liz carefully checked the street before getting out of the car in front of the address Don had given them. Liz went to the door of the house and unlocked it, whilst David remained by the car. Once she was happy that the house was safe she returned to the car and opened the rear door, allowing Colby to step out. The three hurried into the house, ensuring the door was locked behind them. They quickly scanned the downstairs, their minds taking in the layout of the house and storing it away in case they needed to get out in a hurry.

They all headed in to the open plan kitchen / sitting area. David located the fridge, pleased to see that it was fully stocked. He grabbed himself a bottle of water and looked questioningly at the others, both of them nodded and he grabbed two more bottles and handed them over.

"Dude, you look done in, why don't you head upstairs and lay down?" David said to Colby.

"Yeah, that's probably not a bad idea. I'll see you later." He disappeared up the stairs to claim one of the three bedrooms and sat on the bed. He removed the painkillers the doctor had prescribed and emptied two into his hand, taking them with some of the bottled water. He then laid down with a sigh and closed his eyes, falling asleep within moments of his head touching the pillow.

When Don and Megan arrived at the house Colby hadn't long come back downstairs after a long, dreamless sleep. Everyone was glad to see some of the colour had returned to his face, though there was still a haunted look in his eyes. Don would give anything to be able to remove that look, the last time he had seen it was when Colby returned to work after they rescued him from the Chinese freighter and David wasn't speaking to him, he had hoped that he would never have to see that look again. He knew, as before, that only time would heal that particular wound, the guilt that he felt, the best thing Don could do was give him the facts, like ripping a plaster from a wound. That decided he proceeded to fill them in on what the ERT had found, the identity of the would be bomber and what Rutherford had said.

"He isn't the most reliable of people." Stated David.

"That's true. It does warrant some looking into though. I have a couple of calls in with various contacts, but it will be a while before we hear anything back." Said Megan.

"What about the locations he supplied?" asked Liz

"I have LAPD and other Agents checking them out right now." Don looked at Colby. "You've not said anything, you OK?"

"I just can't believe what I'm hearing. We're taking the word of a crook? If I had to make a decision based on what I know now then I'd believe Jasmine over him any day."

"Colby, I realise this is difficult for you, but we have to look at this from every angle. We need to get to the bottom of who has targeted you. Looking into Jasmine's past may be the best way to do it." Megan told him softly. Her phone started ringing, she answered it, and a look of surprise crossed her face. "OK, can you get the techs to put a trace on and then patch her through." Looking at Colby she passed him the phone. "It's Jasmine."

"Jasmine?"

"Oh Colby, I'm so glad you're alright. I was so worried."

"Where are you?"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm safe, it really is better this way, at least for the time being. I just know Jason is behind this and my friendship with you is putting your life, and that of your friends, in danger. I can't let that happen."

"Don and Megan spoke to Rutherford. He denies having anything to do with the bomb."  
"Well he would, he's not going to admit to trying to kill you again."

"There's something else Jasmine."

"What?"

Colby told her what Rutherford had said about her previous boyfriend and neighbours.  
"Oh god, that's not true, you have to believe me. I'd never lie to you Colby."

"You need to come in and we can sort this out."

"You don't believe me, do you? I won't come in, as you put it, I will not be responsible for getting you hurt again, or worse, killed. You might as well know that I love you and because of that you won't be seeing me again. Goodbye."

"Jasmine…" but she was gone, she had hung up. He stared at the phone in his hand, not quite knowing what to say to the four people stood watching him. "She says he's lying, that she won't be seeing me again as she doesn't want to put me, or anyone else, at risk."

Don had been on his phone trying to find out how the trace was going. "They didn't get a location. Dammit. Are you OK Colb?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, I er, just need some air." He stepped outside into the tiny garden and closed the door behind him, sitting down on the bench that had been placed there.

David went to follow him out, but Megan laid a restraining hand on his arm. "Give him a few minutes by himself, he needs some time to process what she said before he talks to anyone." They looked out the glass doors to where he was sitting, feeling desperately sorry for their friend and knowing there was nothing anybody could really say at that moment that would help.

Sighing Don said "Well we'll keep Colby here, if at least one of us is here at all times he should be safe enough since nobody but us and the AD know where he is."

"I'll stay with him tonight." David said softly.

"OK, Liz, if you stay too as David isn't 100% fit. Better to be safe than sorry. Megan and I will head back into the office check on the status of the evidence from the apartment and see how the teams got on searching the locations Rutherford gave us. We'll meet you back here tomorrow morning to come up with a plan of action and schedule for the next week or so at least." The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Taking one more concerned look at Colby both Megan and Don left the house.

"I'm going to throw something together for dinner. Don't get used to it Sinclair, you and Granger will have to do your share, I'm not your mother, but right now I think Colby could use a friend and we have to eat."

David nodded and smiled. "Thanks Liz." He opened the door out to the garden and went to sit next to his partner, saying nothing, knowing Colby would speak when he was ready.

"She said she loves me."

"Man, if you hadn't been so distracted by other things you'd have seen that one coming. You've been seeing a lot of each other for the few months since you met."

"Yeah, I know, it's just that I wasn't ready to hear it and now I don't know what to think. What does Rutherford gain by lying about her past?"

"Megan says he has a controlling personality, perhaps its his way of trying to gain a bit of control back over her. Honestly, I don't know. My main concern is the effect this is having on you. Let's be honest ever since you met the woman your life hasn't exactly been plain sailing. In the last 3 months you've helped her when she broke down, been punched trying to get her estranged husband away from her property, a floral wreath was left on your door, broken glass was sent to you through the post, you were kidnapped and beaten almost to death and then caught in an explosion. By anyone's standards that's a lot of trouble, even for you."

Colby snorted. "Yeah, well trouble seems to follow me. Always has."

"That's why you have us, your friends, to keep bailing ya out." This elicited a small smile from both the men. "Seriously, lets see what Megan's contacts come back with, in the meantime we may find Jasmine and get some answers."

"I just want back to my life David. Sitting round waiting doesn't sit well with me."

"I know, but you need to sit around for a while anyway, so that you can heal properly. You aren't going to be back on duty for a while, the doctors won't allow it, even if Don would."

As if to remind Colby that he was in no fit state to do much a spasm of pain wracked his body, causing him to gasp. David was on his feet immediately and standing in front of him. "Come on, let's get you back inside. Liz is putting some food together, you should eat, take some more meds and go to bed."

"Liz is making dinner, are we sure that's safe?"

"You're about to find out Granger, it's ready." Liz had opened the door to the garden quietly so as not to disturb the two men who had appeared to be deep in conversation, only to see Colby's grimace of pain. They slowly followed her back into the house. She had put together a salad and boiled some pasta with a garlic and herb sauce she had found in the cupboard. It wasn't gourmet food, but once they had eaten they all agreed that it had been good, though Colby hadn't actually managed to eat much.

"Right, David you can clear the table and load the dishwasher, that should be easy enough, even with only one good arm. Colby, get yourself to bed, you look like hell." Liz had never been one to waste her time with niceties.

"Just as well it was my right arm that was hurt, if you get too bossy I can still shoot you! Justifiable homicide."

"How do you call that justifiable?"

"Self defence then."

"Nope, that won't work either. Just get on with it, by the time you get through whining the dishwasher could have been loaded."

"You're not gonna win this one bud!" chuckled Colby.

"Laugh it up man, you'll be enslaved in the kitchen as soon as you can stand up long enough." Retorted David.

Liz handed Colby some water and his meds, which he had left on the side and hustled him out of the room towards the stairs. "Go, before you collapse in a heap."

"Alright already, I'm going." He turned at the bottom of the stairs. "Thanks, both of you." Once in his room he stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed, once again grateful for the unwavering support.

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Once back at the office Megan headed to the labs to see if ERT had managed to uncover any more evidence in amongst the debris of David's apartment. Don went to his desk and started checking in with the teams that had checked out the various possibilities for Jasmine's whereabouts. Neither of them had any luck, nobody had heard from the woman and the ERT techs had found nothing new. Once again they were at a dead end, though everything appeared to point towards Jasmine and Rutherford.


	14. Over?

**Disclaimer: Once more, don't own Numb3rs or the characters, just Jasmine! Enjoy. :)**

Chapter Fourteen – Over?

Colby had been staying in the safe house for 2 weeks. He had been attending the hospital every other day and had finally been completely discharged, his stitches were gone, though he was still not being allowed to return to work. Doctor Vassen had told him and Don, who happened to be with him, that he shouldn't go back to work for at least another 2 weeks, she wanted to ensure that he allowed his body to fully regain it's former strength. Sadly for Colby the FBI, and Don, agreed with her wholeheartedly, leaving him stranded at the safe house. There wasn't just his health to consider, but his safety and that of those he worked with. The team ensured that he was never alone, at least one of them was always with him now. David had returned to work the week before, he had recovered from his encounter with the letter bomb quickly, but Don had made him take a week off so that he could sort his apartment out. He assured Colby that the repairs were underway, in the meantime he was either staying with him or going back to Claudia's.

He had heard nothing more from Jasmine, and there had been no luck with locating her. She had seemed so helpless at times, clinging to Colby for all she was worth. Clearly she was more resourceful than he, or the team, had given her credit for. Another attempt to get Rutherford to provide further locations had failed. He was refusing to co-operate further, probably thinking that if the FBI couldn't find her then she was safe from his other enemies.

There had been no further threats or attempts to harm Colby. He had finally allowed Don to ask Charlie for his help in connecting the attacks. Much to his distress the results of Charlie's work showed that all that had happened could be connected to Jasmine via Rutherford. This still didn't tell the team whether he was the intended target or if it was Jasmine. Also they were no clearer on whether it was Rutherford or the young woman that was behind it. The whole team were at a loss.

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"Hey David, why was the front door unlocked?"

"Hi Megan, was it, could have sworn I locked it."

"How is he today?"

"He's been driving me crazy. He's bored. I wish Don was able to let him back to work, even if it was just to sit at a desk."

"Where is he?"

"He went upstairs a little while ago." Replied David. "Colby, Megan's here." He called up the stairs. There was no response. "He's sulking, we had words when he started complaining for the hundredth time today!"

"Seriously, the two of you are worse than a couple of kids when you get started." She headed up the stairs and knocked on Colby's bedroom door. She got no reply, she knocked again. "Colby, come on, it's Megan." When she still got no reply she opened the door. The room was empty, she quickly checked the other rooms but there was no sign of him. "David, he's not here." She hurried back down to where he was standing in the sitting area.

"Dammit, I bet he went out without saying anything."

"He knows that he shouldn't be going out without someone with him."

"Yeah, well what he knows and what he does are totally different. I'll try calling him." He quickly dialled number 2 on his speed dial, only to hear the phone ringing in the sitting room. "He didn't even take his phone with him!"

Megan pulled out her cell and called Don to break the news to him. David could hear his boss swearing emphatically at the other end.

Thirty minutes later there was the squeal of tyres on the road as Don came to a rapid halt outside the house, both he and Liz jumped out and jogged up to the house where Megan opened the door.

"What the hell is he playing at?"

"He and David exchanged words, I think he's just frustrated with being shut away."

"Well frustrated or not he's being reckless."

"Don, I understand that you're angry with him, but look at it from his point of view. He's been shut away in this house for 3 weeks now, only going out when one of us took him to the hospital. No time on his own, no privacy. Not only that but no chance of returning to work for at least another week. Imagine how you'd feel in his place." Liz tried to placate the senior agent, who was clearly ready to strangle Colby if he got his hands on him.

"Look, we can worry about what he was thinking when we find him." Chimed in Megan.

"OK, lets split up. David you stay here. Megan take a drive around the area. Liz go to the left on foot and I'll take the right. Call if you find anything." They all hurried off in their separate directions.

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Colby was feeling guilty for slipping out whilst David was in the garden getting some air after they'd had a heated exchange. He just needed to get out, used to living on his own and having his own space the proximity of others had finally gotten to him. He hadn't meant to snap at David, none of this was his friend's fault, but he had no idea how he felt. Jasmine had declared her feelings for him and disappeared, he had been shut away from his normal life for weeks when he considered the time he spent in hospital before the bomb at the apartment. His life wasn't his at the moment and he was fed up with it, only going out when someone was with him, being driven to the hospital, not allowed to make decisions for himself. After arguing with David he had gone to his bedroom, all he wanted to do was put his fist through the wall, he was so frustrated. Hearing the door to the garden open, Colby quietly crept down the stairs, peering round the bottom of the stairs, seeing David's back was to him he went to the front door, unlocked it and stepped outside, pulling the door shut quietly behind him. Once out of what he had come to see as his prison he drew in a deep breath. Looking around he decided to head to the right, he thought he had seen a park nearby when Don was driving him back from the hospital one day, he needed the open space.

It was a good thirty minute walk to the park, entering through the gate he saw that it was large with extensive paths. Picking one he carried on walking for another 15 minutes. He had forgotten that he wasn't up to full strength and was starting to tire, coming up on a bench he sat down and closed his eyes, enjoying the freedom, whilst knowing he'd pay dearly for sneaking out. He would be getting a well deserved lecture when he returned, he had no doubt. Another week and he had a medical with the FBI doctor to see if he was fit to return to active duty, but he couldn't have gone another day in that house without getting out, he just hadn't been able to explain how he felt, nobody would understand.

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Megan was driving around the neighbourhood surrounding the safe house looking for Colby, she had stopped and asked a few people if they had seen anyone fitting the agent's description, but she hadn't had any luck as yet. She knew that Colby would be in a lot of trouble when they finally located him, she just hoped he was in one piece when they did. She couldn't believe the young man had been so stupid, he could have talked to her, maybe she wouldn't have been able to understand fully, but she may have been able to help him come up with a better way to deal with the issues he was facing. She had really liked Jasmine, she seemed to be a perfect match for Colby, she was kind and gentle, unfortunately she had come with a lot of baggage in the shape of Jason Rutherford, that was probably what had prevented him from falling for the young woman straight away. If only they could figure out how she was involved with all this. They were currently unsure if she was the reason for the attacks, or indeed if she had orchestrated them, though Megan didn't like to think that her instincts were that far off. She shook herself from her reverie and continued her search for her troubled friend and colleague.

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David sat on the sofa in the safe house, his head rested in his hands. He wished he hadn't snapped at Colby earlier, then his friend would still be here and not out on his own somewhere. He couldn't fathom what his friend was going through, but he wanted to be there for him, it's just he had been so wound up about being shut away. They normally got on so well, but he supposed, like any siblings, they were bound to have their fights. That's how he saw Colby, like a younger brother, somewhat annoying at times, but someone he wanted to look out and be there for. He had failed him, there was no doubt in David's mind of that. He should have seen the effect all this was having, then he could have spoken to Megan or Don about how best to broach the subject. Now here he sat waiting to hear from the rest of the team, hoping that Colby was OK, but wanting to kick his ass for worrying everyone at the same time. He was not used to such conflicting emotions when it came to his friend, at least not since they had all thought he was a spy, they're friendship had been rock solid ever since he had forgiven Colby for lying to him about the whole Chinese debacle. He felt helpless sitting waiting for news, but Don had ordered him to stay put and he wasn't about to defy his boss.

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Liz headed off in the direction Don had ordered. Colby had at least a 45 minute head start on them, but as he wasn't fully fit she hoped they'd catch up with him quite quickly, he was still a little slower than normal. She didn't know Colby as well as the others, having only been on the team for 6 months prior to the spy incident, then she left the team after breaking up with Don just 6 months after that. She missed the closeness of the team and the way they looked out for each other. She could look at the situation with Colby more objectively than the others. The guy was obviously struggling to cope with the events of the past 3 or 4 months, she couldn't really blame him, it must feel like he was going mad and he didn't know which way to turn. There was a store up ahead, she stopped and spoke to the staff, they hadn't seen anyone matching Colby's description. Thanking them, Liz carried on down the street, though she thought the search was fruitless, there were too many side streets that he could have gone down. The man would return to the house when he was good and ready, but they also couldn't just sit and wait for him, what if something had happened to him, no, she would continue looking until she received a phone call telling her to stop.

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Don was livid, he couldn't believe Colby could be so thoughtless. He should have told them he was having problems. Don was used to his youngest agent being strong and independent, somewhat stubborn but never so reckless as to purposely put himself at risk needlessly. He got that Colby was frustrated by the recent turn of events in his life but going AWOL was not the way to handle this. Sighing with his own frustration at his inability to pick up on the signs that one of his team was struggling, he should have seen that Colby wasn't dealing but it was easier to convince himself that everything was fine. He had been too busy with work and trying to figure out what had been behind the series of attacks. Though, of course, that was important, so was taking care of the individual team members, that was part of his job as their supervisor. He had to find Colby and get him to talk things through, he couldn't let this fester any further. Don started to jog, hoping that he would be able to close the gap if his agent had indeed come in this direction. Up ahead he could see some children playing in a park, their parents watching them closely. He approached the adults, showed his FBI badge and asked them if they had seen Colby. One of the parents nodded, she had noticed the man because he was on his own walking passed a children's play area, but he had carried on, heading deeper into the park. Don thanked the woman and pulling out his cell called Megan and Liz, telling them to meet him at the park entrance. Whilst he waited he called David to let him know that Colby had been seen, telling him to stay put and he would call once they had found him. As he hung up the phone Megan pulled up, she had picked Liz up on her way to the park.

"One of the parents saw him walk down this path over here." Said Don to the two women as he headed in the direction he had indicated. They soon came to a fork in the path. "You two head down the right one, I'll take the left, call if you find anything." And off the three went to start searching again.

Don walked quickly, scanning the bushes on either side, in case something had happened and Colby was laying in them. He'd been walking for about 10 minutes when he saw a man sitting on a bench, he figured he could ask if the man had seen Colby. As he got closer he realised that he wouldn't need to ask that question, it was his agent. First he breathed a sigh of relief to see him sitting there, clearly all in one piece, then he felt anger take hold, before he had time to get the emotion under control Colby turned towards him, he'd obviously heard his approach. The younger man turned a little pale at the sight of his boss standing there, he opened his mouth to say something, but Don never found out what that was, he allowed his anger to get the better of him.

"What the hell were you thinking? How could you be so stupid and reckless? Do you have no consideration for anyone other than yourself?"

Colby sat in silence, listening to the tirade, accepting that he more than deserved his bosses anger. He hung his head and waited for Don to finish. Seeing that the younger man wasn't arguing with him, he stopped, ran his hand through his hair and sat on the bench next to him.

"Are you going to tell me what is going on in that head of yours?"

"I dunno. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry anyone but I had to get out."

"Look, I am sure the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, have been hard on you, they haven't been easy for us either, but disappearing from a safe house is perhaps not the way to handle it."

"Yeah, it's been hard for me, you have no idea, but not easy for you? David I get, he did get caught in an explosion after all, but how has this been hard on the rest of you?" he was unaccountably angry at the words Don had used, he didn't know why.

"Oh, you think it was easy waiting for you to come out of the operating theatre, watching you fight for your life?" Don was angry again, he had been sick with worry when Colby had been in the hospital and he couldn't believe that a member of his team would think that something like that wouldn't affect them all.

"Oh man, I'm sorry Don, I didn't mean that. I'm just so…." He trailed off.

"What Colby, so what? Talk to me. It may or may not help, but what have you got to lose?"

He was horrified by what he had said, he knew that this hadn't been easy for anyone, least of all Don. His boss felt responsible for anything that happened to his team and the fact that he had not been able to find out who was behind what had happened weighed heavily. "I feel trapped and like I have no control over my life. I want to get back to normality, whatever that is. This is so screwed up."

"It is, you're right, but running away isn't the answer. Trust me, I tried it and ended up seeing a shrink. You're problems follow you, the only way to get through this is to confront what you're feeling."

"Wow, you've been spending lots of time with your shrink, or maybe with Megan."

"Hey, don't knock it! They both talk a lot of sense. I'm going to phone Megan, she's with Liz and they're looking for you. I'll tell them to go and wait in the car and we'll talk for a bit, how's that?" He pulled out his cell as Colby nodded. He assured Megan that they were fine and would meet them at the car, Colby looked exhausted and Don didn't think he'd be able to walk back to the house, so he had asked them to wait at the entrance to the park. He sat back and waited for Colby to marshal his thoughts.

"I haven't felt so lost since I started my undercover work for Counter Intelligence. At first that was easy, then I got to know you all, nobody knew that it would be 2 years before we got a chance to take the DOJ mole down. I made friends and suddenly I was lying to people I cared about. I was so alone, whilst being surrounded by people. It was out of my control. This is bringing those feelings back again, the only difference is I'm not lying to anyone this time."

"Yes you are." Stated Don simply. Colby looked at him, confused. "Yourself, you're lying to yourself. I think you've been telling yourself that you're fine and you can cope with all this on your own. You can't and more importantly you don't need to."

"I'm just starting to realise that. Shame it took so long eh?"

"You said it!"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything, anytime."

"Do you think it's over? The attacks I mean? It's been 3 weeks since the bomb and nothing else has happened."  
"I dunno Colb. I hope so. I know you found Jasmine just vanishing like that really hard and that you had started to have feelings for her but she did what she thought was best, and so far it looks like it may be working."

"Yeah." Colby sighed, he felt drained.

"Ready to head back?"  
"Yup, time to face the music." He grimaced at the thought of facing the rest of the team, but got up and walked out of the park with Don.

When they reached the park entrance Megan and Liz were waiting. He looked them both in the eye and apologised.

"Granger, don't do it again. I thought I was gonna have to lock Don up for assault when he found ya." Liz winked at him.

Megan wrapped the man in a hug. "We're here, you just need to let us in."

"Right, lets get him back before David sends out a search party for all of us."

The four piled into the SUV, and made their way back to where David was anxiously awaiting their return. Colby got out of the vehicle and headed inside, the others stayed put for a few minutes to allow the partners a little time to set things straight.

David dashed to the door as it opened, relieved to see Colby in one piece, if a little paler than usual.

"Man, that was not cool. I'm sorry."

"Me too. I'm just tired of hiding away." The two men clasped hands and bumped shoulders in their version of a hug. The other three agents entered the room and were pleased to see the friends had resolved any differences.

"You look done in, we'll be here when you've had some rest. Go and lay down." Encouraged Megan.

"That sounds like a good idea Colby. We'll order some food in when you get up." Said David.

"I have a better idea. I have some calls to make, but have no intention of going back to the office, why don't I call Dad and Charlie, see if we can impose on their hospitality for dinner? That way we get good home cooked food and Colby gets out of this place for a while."

"That's the best idea I've heard all day." Smiled Colby.

"OK, that's settled, go and get some rest." Don had decided that to keep Colby sane they would need to allow him to leave the house more, he watched as he walked up the stairs, then turned into the sitting room to make the calls he had mentioned. Megan, David and Liz sat quietly chatting, happy that the equilibrium between the team had been restored once more.


	15. Protect

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters from said show.**

Chapter Fifteen – Protect

Arriving at Charlie and Alan's house for dinner with the rest of the team, Colby was greeted by the two men as well as Larry and Amita. He was ushered into the sitting room and pushed down into a comfortable chair. Having established that Alan didn't need any assistance in the kitchen, everyone joined him and sat talking. Nobody mentioned Jasmine, the idea of this evening was to distract him from all that was going on around him.

He loved being at the Eppes family home, it was so warm and welcoming. Looking around the room at his friends and colleagues as they sat and talked about what had been happening in their lives, he felt truly content. Despite his aversion to being surrounded by people all the time at the safe house this was entirely different. No longer trapped inside the same walls he could relax.

Don was watching him, trying to decide if he had done the right thing earlier when he put a call in to the AD. He looked like a different person to the one sitting on the bench in the park just hours earlier, he hoped that the news that he had for him would help a little too.

"So, Colby, I have some news for you."

"Oh? Should I be worried?" asked Colby warily.

"No, I think it's everyone else at headquarters that should be worried."

The others had stopped their conversations to listen to what Don was saying, exchanging puzzled looks. He hadn't told anyone else what he was going to do, just in case he couldn't make it happen.

"What's going on, what do you mean?" asked Liz.

"Well with Colby back in the office, the other agents need to worry about being able to drink their coffee, as opposed to using a knife and fork to cut it."

"Yeah, not for at least another week though." Sighed Colby.

"That's where you're wrong." Teased Don.

"Will you just tell us what you're on about." Exclaimed Megan in exasperation.

"I spoke to the AD earlier, managed to persuade him to allow Colby to come back to the office. Desk duty only, mind you, until the FBI doctor clears you for field work…"

"What? Really? That's great! When?" Enthused Colby.

"Oh yeah, he definitely needs to get out more if he thinks sitting at a desk is great!" chuckled David.

"You can come back in tomorrow. There are conditions to this agreement though, and if you break any of them the AD will have both our asses."

"What are they?"

"As I said, no field work, you aren't to work more than 6 hours a day, if there is any sign of coming back to work early affecting your health you have to go home immediately, no arguments. I assured the AD that none of that would be an issue."

"I can live with those conditions. Thanks Don." Colby's grin spread from ear to ear, it was no small feat to get the AD to agree to allow him back in the office early and he appreciated his boss going to bat for him.

"That is good news Colby, now lets eat." Said Alan who had come into the room in time to hear what was being said.

The group gathered round the table, with a very happy Colby, and they all enjoyed the home cooked meal and the companionable chatter. The last few weeks hadn't just been stressful for Colby, everyone round the table had been on edge, worried about one of their own.

After the meal Colby offered to help Alan clear away, but he would have none of it, ushering the young man back into the sitting room to sit down. Not to be out done Megan and Amita then pushed him down into a chair and they went to do the clearing up, both felt it was the least they could do considering he had gone to so much trouble cooking for them.

The 2 women got on very well, they spent a fair bit of time together as the men they were in love with were such close friends. It had been a while since they had been able to get together and they found that this gave them the perfect opportunity to catch up.

"How are things with you Amita?"  
"Good. Busy. Nothing new there though. Charlie keeps me on my toes too. Though he hasn't had much consulting work with the FBI recently."

"To be honest we haven't been working many cases because of this thing with Colby. We've all been focused on finding who's behind it."  
"Yeah, Charlie desperately wanted to help after the knife incident, but Don wouldn't hear of it."  
"Hmm, Colby made Don promise not to involve him. He was worried about possible repercussions."  
"I can understand that, but Charlie would have helped any way."  
"I know, which is why Colby extracted the promise before agreeing to go into protective custody."

"Figures. He is one stubborn guy."  
"Quite possibly wouldn't still be with us if he wasn't." Both women remained quiet as that sobering thought sunk in.

"Megan, can I ask you something, just between us?"

"Of course."

"Do you think Jasmine is behind this? I mean she seemed so lovely, perfect for Colby…." She trailed off.

"I'm not sure. I agree, she was lovely, but from what David told me, she could also be a bit possessive, even though they weren't actually dating."

"So you think this Rutherford is telling the truth, that she set him up, somehow manipulated him into kidnapping Colby?"

"I don't trust the man one bit, it's hard to know who to believe really." Sighed Megan. The conversation was interrupted by her cell phone ringing.

"Reeves…. Hi. OK. I understand. Really? Can you e-mail me a copy? I really appreciate it, thank you." She hung up and glanced in Amita's direction. The younger woman had stopped what she was doing and looked at Megan with concern.

"Is everything OK?"

"I need to speak to Don without drawing attention to it. Can you try and get him to come in here, I don't want Colby to hear what I have to say just yet, until we can decide the best way to tell him."

"Yes, of course." Amita was curious but understood that Megan wanted to discuss the call with her boss. She left the kitchen and saw Don was talking to Charlie. "Don, can you pop into the kitchen for a minute?" Both men glanced at her and she shook her head, immediately both understood that whatever was happening it wasn't for everyone's ears at that moment. Looking in Colby's direction and seeing that he was occupied by a conversation with David, Alan and Larry, the 3 of them headed back into the kitchen. Charlie ensured that the door closed behind them.

"What's up Megan?"

"I just had a call from my contact in the UK. She told me that Jasmine has quite a list of nuisance complaints and criminal damage complaints against her. No charges were ever filed, though she was given a warning. Rutherford was telling the truth about that."

"Damn. Makes me wonder what else he was telling the truth about."

"I know. I guess it's possible that moving to the US was a fresh start for her and she has changed. Perhaps her interest in Colby was genuine."

"Maybe, but it raises a considerable amount of doubt. What are we going to tell Colby?"

"I think you should tell him the truth. If he finds out later that you didn't then he is going to be angry, and rightfully so." Charlie replied.

"He's right Don."

"But we just got him to relax and now we have to destroy that again."

"Now is a good time to bring it up with him, he's surrounded by people that care about him, we can support him through this." Megan assured Don.

"Alright, lets get it over and done with." Sighing he led the group out to the sitting room.

Colby looked up to see the group approaching. He narrowed his eyes, every instinct telling him that they were about to give him bad news. David noting the change in his demeanour followed his gaze and tensed slightly. Don gave him a look that spoke volumes and he moved himself so he was sitting closer to his best friend.

"Don? What's going on?"

He sat on the coffee table in front of Colby and took a deep breath and told him what Megan's contact had said about Jasmine. When he finished there was a long pause whilst everyone took the information in, they then all turned to Colby. He stared at the floor.

"How could I have been so blind?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Hey man, you weren't blind. She fooled us all." David tried to reassure him.

"You couldn't have known, she could very well be completely innocent in all this. After all we have no proof that she has done anything wrong." Don tried to be practical.

"I know this is hard on you, but don't beat yourself up Colby. What you're feeling is perfectly natural. She came across as a young woman who needed help, you were there for her, you weren't wrong for that." Megan was hoping that he was listening to them.

"Thanks guys, don't worry, I'm not going to fall apart at the idea that she wasn't what I thought. Just, well, I dunno what to think right now. I hope she wasn't part of all this and she really had changed but I also know that may not be the case. What I really want is to know either way."

"Son, we are all here for you if you want to talk about this." Alan leant forward and looked straight into the young agents eyes, forcing him to make eye contact. Colby could see the sincerity in those eyes and was truly grateful at that moment for the elder man's presence.

"I know, but I think I just need time to get my head round this latest bit of news. Would it be alright if I headed back to the house?"

"Yeah, course. I'll drive you." Responded David picking up his keys.

"Thanks for tonight, I really appreciate it, the time away was just what I needed."

"Anytime son." Replied Alan.

Colby said his goodbyes to the rest of the group then he and David headed out.

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"Do you think he's gonna be OK?" Charlie asked, concerned.

"He's got a lot of support, I think he'll be just fine." Alan assured his youngest.

"I wish we could figure out what was going on, but we keep hitting dead ends." Sighed Megan. "I'm worried that this, whatever this is, isn't over."

"We'll protect him, no matter what." Don stated firmly.

"At least with him going back to work you'll be able to keep a close eye on him. I would have thought he'll be safe at the office, and you will be able to start dealing with other cases again, take his mind off things."

"You're right there Chuck. Will be good for all of us to think about something else for a while. Though we can't let this drop either."

"No, but I think it's time we tried to focus elsewhere, for Colby's sanity as much as anything else. After over 3 months of drama we are no further forward, that isn't helping him."

"Well we can stand here and debate this all night, but we've got work in the morning. We'll just need to see how things go." With that the group went their separate ways.

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The following morning David drove Colby to the office. They entered the bull pen and he was greeted by fellow agents welcoming him back. He reached his desk and lowered himself into his chair happy to be there. A few minutes later Don, Megan and Liz arrived.

"Right, Colby, you need to come with me to see the AD, the rest of you head to the war room and pick up where you left off with the files on that spate of recent robberies." He and Colby then walked to the AD's office, the door was open and when he saw them standing there the AD waved them in and gestured to the pair to come in and sit down as he finished a phone call. He turned to Colby and smiled. "Welcome back Agent Granger."  
"Thank you Sir."

"I take it Agent Eppes has advised you of the conditions for your return?"  
"Yes Sir."

"Good. As long as you stick to them I have absolutely no issue with you being on desk duty. If I see even the slightest deviation from those conditions I will not hesitate to remove you from active duty until further notice."  
"I understand Sir, I appreciate the chance to come back early and will not let you or Agent Eppes down."

"Good, now get to work. I need to speak to Agent Eppes." The AD softened his words with a smile. Colby nodded and pulled the door closed behind him then went to join his colleagues. When he reached the war room he saw that Charlie had joined the team.

"Hey Charlie."  
"Colby! Good to see you back here."

"Thanks. What are you working on?"

"There have been a series of robberies at convenience stores around LA. The two perps enter the store late at night, wearing masks, and then hold the clerks at gun point, the last three robberies they have turned violent and seriously injured the store clerk." Liz filled him in.

"Don't tell me, Charlie, you're trying to see if there is a pattern."

"Of course." He smiled. "As I've said before even when we are trying to do things in a random way patterns form unintentionally."

"How many robberies have there been so far?"

"Six." Replied Megan, smiling at how easily Colby slipped back into his role with the team.

"Is there any video footage?"

"Yup, there was a camera at each store." It was David's turn to reply. "But we've not had a chance to view any of it."

"How about I go and start on that?" He volunteered.

Don had been watching through the glass doors, he was glad to see his team back together with the addition of Liz. This is how it should be and he believed that Colby would be an asset working from the safety of his desk whilst the rest of them followed any leads. He entered the room. "That's a great idea. You go and set that up, David, Liz can you go and interview the latest victim. Megan and I will go and see the store manager. We'll meet back here in a couple of hours." The team split up to go their separate ways.

As Colby watched them go he felt a pang of jealousy that he wasn't joining them, especially when he saw David and Liz leaving together. The feeling was a fleeting one however as he realised and accepted his current limitations, but damn it was good to be back and doing something constructive again. He headed to the room with the video equipment that a tech had set up and began trawling through the hours of footage, for once he didn't care that it was going to be a long task, he was just glad to be back.

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**A/N: There may be a delay in posting the next chapter as I may not have access to the net until Thursday! I will post the next as soon as I can, I do try to update every few days! Thanks for the reviews, story alerts and general support with my first ever fan fic. ******


	16. Quarter

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters.**

**A/N: OK so my writing went quicker than I thought allowing another chapter to be posted before I have no internet access for a few days! Hope it's to your liking.**

Chapter Sixteen – Quarter.

Colby had been back at work for two weeks, the team had spent most of that time trying to catch the convenience store robbers. Whilst on restricted duty Colby had gone through the footage of all six robberies but hadn't managed to find any evidence to indicate who was carrying them out. The rest of the team had been interviewing all the witnesses but had come up empty as well. Charlie had marked out the next possible target and they had been watching it every night without success, the robbers seemed to have gone underground. He walked into the war room where the team, including Charlie, had gathered to go through the files yet again, hoping that they would find something they had missed. Everyone looked up expectantly as he walked in.

After an interminable silence, David broke it. "How did it go?" he asked.

"The doctor wouldn't sign me back to field duty…" he paused.

"Oh, Colb, I'm sorry man." Don got up and approached him, ready to commiserate.

"That is until tomorrow when I can collect my gun from the AD." His face broke into a wide grin.

"Dude, that is great news." David walked over to him and slapped him on the back. The next few minutes were spent congratulating him.

"Why don't we get out of here and go grab some dinner?" asked Megan.

"That sounds like a plan." Agreed Liz.

The team packed up the files and happily left the building together, Charlie called Amita and she, along with Larry, agreed to meet them.

Colby was delighted to be going back to field work, he knew that his body had needed the time to heal, but he was more than ready to get out from behind his desk and team up with David again. He had one more thing that he needed to do, though knowing how the others were going to react he wasn't looking forward to it. He waited till everyone was seated and the food ordered.

"There's something I need to speak to you about." The conversation stopped as they all turned to look at him. "Please let me say what I need to before you say anything." They all looked worried now. "I want you to know how much your support has meant to me over the last 4 or so months, I really appreciate everything you have all done, but I need to get back to a more normal life. I'm going to move back into my apartment. I can't keep hiding away and now I'm going to be out in the field again I feel like the time is right to get back the rest of my life."

The others exchanged glances, they knew this was coming, even if it was a little sooner than they'd hoped, and everyone had agreed that when he raised the subject they would back his decision, but there would be a few compromises on Colby's part if he wanted their whole hearted agreement. Megan had been elected their representative, not wanting to appear like they were ganging up on him but needing the calmest most rational person to voice their concerns.

"We've been expecting this Colby. We talked about it and how we could help you when the time was right. If you think that time is now we are behind you 100%, though you have to understand that we have some concerns around your safety."

"I know, but I have thought it through and am prepared to take the chance. There have been no more threats and it's been nearly 6 weeks since the letter bomb."

"That's true, but we're going to have to insist on some precautions." Megan raised her hand to silence Colby's protest that she could instinctively tell was coming. "We're not going to want to follow you, or have someone stay with you, but we would like it if you would agree to have a panic button installed in your apartment and one attached to your car keys. It's for our peace of mind." She had carefully planned how she could make him think that this was for their benefit not his, but still leaving him the independence that he was so desperately craving after having to rely on them for so long.

"Alright, I'll agree to that." He knew when Megan was pulling her psychological stuff on him, but he was quite happy for her to believe that he wasn't aware of it on this occasion.

The rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll arrange it with the AD tomorrow, a team of techs can go in during the day whilst you're at work." Said Don. That settled they got down to the business of demolishing the plates of food that were just being put in front of them.

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Colby couldn't be happier, he had just got his gun back from the AD, who seemed pleased to have him return to full duty. The techs had his keys and were heading over to his apartment to fit a couple of panic buttons, one in the bedroom and one in the hallway, which meant the rest of the team were happy. He looked at his car keys and the small remote device with a panic button that the techs had also just given him, it was a small price to pay to be allowed to return to his apartment once more. The rest of the day was spent going through the video footage of the robberies for the second time, to no avail.

"Hey Colb, why don't you call it a night? You've barely moved all day, it will still be here tomorrow." Don said sticking his head round the door of the room that Colby was working in.

Stretching he turned to his boss. "OK, that's probably not a bad idea, starting to go a bit cross eyed!"

"Finding anything new?"

"Nope, but I have this feeling that I'm missing something."

"You'll figure it out, go home and get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night Don." Said Colby as he watched his boss walk away. He switched off the video equipment, turned out the lights and walked into the bull pen. Looking around he realised that the rest of the team, apart from Don, had already gone home, he hadn't realised how late it was, the office was almost empty. He grabbed his jacket and headed out. Reaching home he unlocked his door and turned on some lights, the techs had been in and installed the panic buttons, he could see the one that they had put by the door. He turned and locked the door behind him. Going into the bedroom he put his bag on the bed, checked the location of the panic button in the room and then unpacked, relieved to finally be back in his own place. He made himself some dinner, had a shower and climbed into his own bed, sighing contentedly he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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The next morning found Colby back in the office going through the rest of the video footage. He was convinced that he was missing something, he just couldn't figure out what it was. He knew that even the smallest detail could be the break they needed. There may not have been any further robberies but these perps had caused injuries to their victims and needed to be caught.

"Morning Colby, how was your first night back in your own place?" asked David.

"Hey man, good thanks, slept like a baby."

"Good to hear. Don wants you to come with me to interview the victim from the last robbery, see if he's remembered anything."

"OK, let's go." Leaving the video equipment on so that he could resume his task when he returned he followed his partner out. Once in the car David used the time to tell Colby about the man they were going to interview.

"John Prentice, aged 26, been working at the convenience store for a year. Manager says he's extremely reliable and trustworthy. One of the robbers hit him with the butt of his gun, causing a major concussion. When Liz and I interviewed him, John couldn't remember anything, but the doctors thought it might be temporary." They pulled up outside a large apartment building and got out. "He's on the fifth floor, flat 9." They reached the apartment and knocked at the door. "John, it's Agent Sinclair." After a short pause the door was opened. "This is Agent Granger, would it be alright to come in and talk to you?"

"Yes, I suppose so." John Prentice stood back and allowed the two agents to enter his apartment.

"How are you feeling?" asked David.

"I've felt better, I still can't quite believe it happened."

"Have you remembered anything?"

"I keep having flashbacks, but nothing is clear, it's all out of focus."

"Did you notice anything prior to the robbery? Someone hanging around outside, maybe?"

"No, it had been quite busy so I hadn't really been paying much attention. I wish that I could be of more help to you guys."

"Hey, it's OK. If you remember anything, no matter how small, then just give us a call." Said Colby.

"I will." John showed them out and the two agents heard the door lock behind them.

Once back in the car Colby turned to his partner. "Do you think he's telling the whole truth?"

"I think so, why?"

"I just felt like there was something bothering him."  
"You mean other than the fact that he doesn't remember what happened?"

"I guess you're right, I'm just looking for something that isn't there. Lets get back to the office, I want to start going through that footage again."

David grinned and drove off, knowing that his friend was not going to let it go until he was 100% sure that he hadn't missed a thing on the footage. As soon as they got back to the office Colby disappeared to carry on with his task whilst David went to let Don know that their latest victim and witness had not recalled anything, then he returned to the files in the war room. Sometime later Colby appeared in the doorway. "Charlie, have you got a minute?" he asked.

"Sure, what's up?" he followed the agent out of the room, leaving the others looking puzzled.

"I think I've figured out what was bothering me, but I need confirmation."

"You think math will help somehow?"

"Let me show you." He sat back at the desk and brought up two different bits of footage. "I think these two, that carried out robbery number one, are different from these two that carried out number two." He pointed out what he was seeing. "They look different heights, but I can't be sure."

"OK, yes, we can help you to see if you're right. We can take something we know the height of and use an algorithm to estimate the height of the robbers."

"That sounds good, will it take long?"

"Not if I call Amita." Replied Charlie as he pulled out his phone and called her, after a short conversation he hung up. "She's on her way." They went to the war room to let the rest of the team know that they might have a break in the case. When Amita arrived she and Charlie disappeared, the others sat and drank coffee waiting to see what they came up with. At last the pair returned to the war room.

"We've got something."

"Show us Chuck." Stated Don.

Charlie plugged the laptop into the large screen and turned to Amita. "You tell them."

"Colby was right. It's two different pairs of robbers. Look." She tapped a few keys on the laptop. "We know the height of these shelves from each of the crime scene reports, using that information we compared the height of each pair of robbers. The first pair are 5 foot 9 and 6 foot." She pointed at the individuals on the screen. "The second pair are 5 foot 8 and 5 foot 6."

"Well spotted Colb." Said Don.

"I don't get it, other than telling you that there are four people involved how does that narrow your search?"

"It doesn't, but you can. We have a list of suspects, these four must know each other, my bet is at least one of them is on our list."

"OK, give me the files of those suspects and I'll run them, I should be able to tell you if any of them match." Charlie took the files from Colby and sat down, getting to work straight away. A couple of hours later he had a short list of three, which he handed to the team.

Knowing that when they found their suspect they would need more than what they had Colby returned to the video footage, he started to look for anything that might prove they had committed the robberies once they had them in custody. Twenty minutes later he found what he was looking for. One of the suspects Charlie had identified had a tattoo on his neck, which was shown in a photo in his arrest jacket. In front of him on the screen he could just make out some skin between the robber's jacket and balaclava, there was part of the tattoo that was in the photograph.

"I've got him!" He yelled, dashing out of the room and into the bull pen. The rest of the team glanced up at the excitement in his voice. "It's Dave Chalmers. I have his unique tattoo, clear as can be, on the video footage."

"How can you be sure?" enquired Megan.

"The tattoo is a number, a cell block number, followed by his initials. It's identical to the one I can see on the video." He handed the file over to her.

"Yeah, that is unique. Don, we need to get SWAT, this guy has a history of weapons possession."

Don was already picking up the phone and contacting Tim King to request his team. Everyone else was grabbing their gear ready to go, before long they were all standing down the road from Dave Chalmers' house. Don, Liz and Megan were going in the front with half of Tim's team, David and Colby were covering the back with the rest. Minutes later as they broke down the front door half a dozen men made a dash out of the back, only to find themselves confronted with some serious weaponry. One of the men was quicker than the others and pushed another into the line of fire and made a run for it, Colby and David were hot on his heels. Running down the street, shouts of "Freeze FBI." Could be heard, a couple of blocks went by and the suspect started to flag, Colby increased his pace and finally caught up with him, bringing him down in a flying tackle. Mere seconds behind, David handed his partner some handcuffs and helped him pull the man, who it transpired was in fact Dave Chalmers, to his feet and they read him his rights, then turned and marched him back to the house where the others were waiting. Chalmers was put unceremoniously into the back of an FBI car for transport back to headquarters to be interviewed. The team stayed long enough to find out what was stashed in the house. There was a cache of semi-automatic weapons as well as a large amount of cash. All in all it had been a good bust. David and Colby drove back to headquarters together, but instead of their usual post arrest banter there was silence, he wasn't sure what was going on, but David sensed that Colby was not in the mood for talking. They arrived back at the office and Colby headed to the locker room, whilst David went to check in with their boss. The others had already arrived back, Don and Liz were in the interview room with Chalmers. As he walked into the room next to where the interview was being held Megan immediately sensed something was bothering the other agent. "What is it?" she asked.

"Something's up with Colby. He hasn't said two words since we got in the car to come back here."

"Well it's his first serious foray back in the field since he came back on duty. Perhaps he just needs some time to process that."

"I'm sure you're right, I'm just a bit worried, after all that he's been through…"  
"Worried about what?" asked Don, entering the room.

"Colby." David quickly repeated what he had told Megan.

"OK, Megan, why don't you have a crack at this guy." He indicated Chalmers. "I am sure that we have all four robbers in the guys we rounded up tonight, but he's not talking to me, perhaps you'll have better luck. I'll go and see if I can find out what's eating Colby." Megan nodded and entered the interview room to join Liz, whilst David continued to watch.

"He was heading into the locker room the last time I saw him."

Nodding Don went in search of the youngest team member. He was exactly where David had said. "Hey Colb."

Startled out of his reverie, he turned to his boss. "Hey man."

"What's bothering you? Don't say nothing either, I won't buy it."

Sighing he knew that there was no way out, he had to tell the truth. "You know I was more than ready to be out in the field, the doctor cleared me and everything…"  
"But?" Prompted Don, sitting down on the bench next to Colby.

"I struggled to catch that guy tonight."  
"Is that all? Look, I don't mean to diminish how you're feeling, but did you really expect to just get up one morning and be back to full fitness? It's going to take some time."

"If I can't keep up though, what good am I? What if next time the guy is faster?"

"That's why you have a partner, even at full fitness you can't always catch the bad guy on foot. You know that. You're putting far too much emphasis on this. You have more skills than just chasing suspects." Don paused, and looked at Colby. His agent looked tired, he seemed to have conveniently forgotten that he was in the office until late last night and then back at the crack of dawn this morning, any one of them would have been tired and therefore not so fleet of foot under those circumstances, not to mention that he did actually catch the guy. "If it hadn't been for your determination we would never have realised that there were four people involved. I want you to go home and get some rest. If you still feel in the morning that you're not ready for chasing suspects then we'll talk about this again, if, however, you realise that you were just physically tired, the subject will be considered closed. Alright?"

Colby nodded in agreement, perhaps Don was right, it had been a long few days. "OK, I'll see you tomorrow." He got up and walked out. Getting to his car he sat and closed his eyes for a few minutes, drawing in deep breaths. Feeling somewhat calmer he started the car. He had to stop at a store on his way home, he needed to restock his empty cupboards and fridge, he debated about letting it wait until tomorrow, but knew he couldn't keep putting it off. At least they had caught the convenience store robbers, that was something to be pleased about. There was a store a block from his apartment, he pulled into a parking space out front and went in. He nodded to the cashier and picked up a basket. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the list he had written a couple of days ago, this had been the first chance he'd had to get to a store. As he pulled the piece of paper out something else fell from his pocket, bending down to pick it up he saw that it was a quarter. No sooner had he bent down than the sound of a bullet rushing passed registered. He looked up as a can of soup exploded with the impact. If he hadn't bent to pick up that quarter it would have been his head that the bullet impacted. He just had time to think about how lucky that quarter was and that he wouldn't be spending it, when another bullet flew over his head.


	17. Robbery in Progress

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters from said show.**

**Apologies for the wait in getting this chapter up! Hope it was worth waiting for.**

Chapter Seventeen – Robbery in progress.

Don returned to join David and watch the rest of the interview with Chalmers. "He's OK, I've sent him home." Said Don at the other agents enquiring look. "How are Megan and Liz faring?"

"Not good. We've got this guy for at least three counts of aggravated robbery and numerous weapons charges, but he's denying everything. Claiming the guns and cash weren't his."

"What excuse did he use for the fact that we have video footage of him?"

"Reckons someone is framing him and they copied his tattoo."

"Right. Well perhaps we should try speaking to one of the other men we arrested, we can hold Chalmers on weapons charges anyway. Let him have a night to think about things, maybe he will feel more like talking in the morning."

"We arrested six people, we only have footage of four. There are four men that match the height of the robbers, including Chalmers."

"Unfortunately the fact they're the same height won't be enough. We need something else, a confession would make it all easier, either that or if someone turns." Don knocked on the window dividing the interview room from where they were watching. A minute later Megan and Liz were standing with them discussing their next move.

"I agree with Don, we're not getting anywhere right now. There was one young man we arrested, he is the right height to match the shortest of our robbers, he was very nervous, perhaps he would be more willing to talk." Said Megan.

"OK, David and I will take Chalmers down to lock up and bring this other guy up." Don went into the interview room and they escorted him down to the holding cells in the basement of the building. Identifying the man Megan had indicated they then took him back up and sat him in the interview room, they left him to go and get a coffee and let him stew a little longer. They sat in the break room discussing the suspect.

"He has been identified as 19 year old Jess Rivers from his driving licence. He has no criminal record." Provided Liz. "How on earth did he get involved with Chalmers?"

"Good boy rebelling." Responded David. "Just look at his address. He comes from a better part of town. My bet is that Mommy and Daddy pay for his every whim. In order to get excitement he hangs out with the bad crowd. They let him because he has money."

"Why don't we go and ask him. David, you're with me." Don got up and left the break room. Jess Rivers looked like a deer caught in the headlights when they entered the interrogation room once more. "You're in a lot of trouble Jess."

The young man looked from one to the other. "I've done nothing wrong."

"You expect us to believe you knew nothing about the weapons and cash in that house we found you in tonight? Next you'll be telling us you don't know Dave Chalmers." David sat down opposite him, whilst Don remained standing off to one side.

"I didn't know about the guns. I haven't known Dave long."

"How did you meet?"

"His brother, Brad, introduced us. We go to the same college. He is there on a football scholarship, we play on the team together."

"What were you doing at his house tonight?"

"I was supposed to be meeting Brad there, he wasn't in when I arrived and Dave invited me in to wait. Before he showed up you came crashing through the door."  
"Why did you run?"

"I was scared. Wouldn't you be if armed men broke into a house you were in?"

"We identified ourselves as FBI agents, if you had nothing to hide you should have done as you were instructed and remained where you were." Chipped in Don.

"I might have done, but Dave grabbed my arm and pulled me with him, I was too scared to think about what I was doing."

"Do you know anything about convenience store robberies that Dave Chalmers is involved in."

"No, you have to believe me, I don't. They were flashing cash around when I walked in, but I had no idea where it had come from."

"Do you know any of the other men that were arrested tonight?"

"No, I had never met any of them before."

"Any idea where Brad is now?"

"No, we were going to catch a movie together. He's a nice guy, we've become friends. He's nothing like his brother."  
"How do you mean?"  
"Dave is a bully. He constantly puts Brad down because he's going to college, like it's a bad thing. Brad can't see it though, he worships the ground Dave walks on. He would do anything for his brother."

"Like rob a convenience store."

Jess paused. "No. He wouldn't. Would he?"

"That's a question we are going to need to answer."

While Don and David had been interviewing Jess Rivers, Liz had been checking to see if Brad Chalmers had a record, but she had come up empty. "Seems little brother has managed to stay on the right side of the law, at least up until now." She told Megan. "Can't have been easy. Their father died in prison whilst doing 10 years for armed robbery."

"Guess the apple didn't fall far from the tree with Dave then."

They were joined by David and Don. "I don't think he knows anything. I'm reluctant to send him back into holding with the rest. He seems like a good kid who just got caught in a bad situation."

"I'm inclined to agree." Stated Megan. "Let's call his parents."

Two hours later Jess had been handed over to his parent's custody. The team were glad that the young man seemed to have supportive parents. They were clearly upset by this turn of events but were determined to make sure he stuck to the straight and narrow from now on.

"I wish they all ended like that." Sighed Megan.

"The rest can wait until morning to be questioned. Why don't…." Don was interrupted by his cell phone ringing. "Eppes… OK, we'll be right there." He turned to the others. "LAPD have just had reports of shots fired at a convenience store, suspect still on the premises." A collective groan went round the team, but they grabbed their vests and guns before hurrying to Don's SUV and the frantic drive to get to the scene. They pulled into the parking lot behind three LAPD squad cars. No sooner were they out of the SUV than they were approached by a Sergeant. "We know that you're investigating a series of robberies. We received a 911 call from a passerby reporting shots fired, when we arrived some of my officers tried to make entry but were shot at. SWAT are on their way."

"Don…"  
"Just a minute David. How many suspects inside, do we know?"

"As far as we can tell one. We have no idea how many civilians are in there."

"Don…"

"Hang on David. Has the suspect…"

"DON!" This time David raised his voice.

Turning to him with surprise, Don bit back the angry response that was on his lips when he met David's eyes, they were filled with concern. Taking a breath he asked "What is it?"

"Colby's car." He pointed at the spot nearby where it was parked. "He must be inside."

"Crap." Was Don's emphatic response.

"Agent Eppes?"

"One of my agents might be in there. That's his car."

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Colby stayed crouched in the aisle where he had dropped what he now saw as his lucky quarter. Though the shot had been fired in his direction he didn't believe that he had been spotted, so staying low he moved forward towards where the cashier was standing when he entered the store. He reached the end of the aisle and stopped to assess the situation before him. There appeared to be one male with a gun pointed at the cashier. Colby needed to check if anyone else was in the store before deciding how to proceed. Turning round he went towards the back of the store, he peered round the corner of each aisle ensuring they were clear, it wasn't until he reached the second to last one that he found a woman cradling a toddler. He pressed his fingers to his lips indicating she should remain silent and showed her his badge. A look of relief crossed the young woman's face. He motioned for her to stay where she was as he checked down the last aisle. It appeared that they were the only customers, but he needed to figure out a way to get them out safely without the armed man seeing. At the very least he needed to find somewhere to hide them. He could see a gap in the shelving on the left hand side of the last aisle, he hurried down the aisle and found that it led to a storage room, the gunman stood between him and the exit so he decided that the best course of action was to hide the woman and her child there for the time being. He turned back to where he had left the woman and beckoned her to follow him, but she was frozen to the spot. He approached her and reached for the toddler, a little girl, gathering her in his arms he went back the way he'd come, this prompted the young mother to follow him. He ushered her into the store room and passed her the little girl.

"Stay here and don't move. I will come back for you when it's safe, OK?" He whispered, she nodded in response and he pulled the door, which was conveniently out of sight of the gunman, closed. Once again he turned his attention to the front of the store, he could see the cashier quickly emptying the till in front of him, the gunman was waving his gun carelessly around. The cashier looked up and caught sight of Colby, before he could disguise his surprise the gunman turned and also saw the agent, he turned and immediately opened fire. Colby managed to throw himself behind a stack of tins.

"I'm with the FBI, you have nowhere to go." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the sound of sirens and cars screeching to a halt in the car park were heard. The next thing the gunman had turned his attention to the door and sprayed the glass with bullets. He needed to act before someone got killed. He stood up and drew his gun and aimed it at the man.

"Drop your weapon." He yelled.

The only response he got was another hail of bullets in his direction. Swearing he ducked down behind the shelving again.

"Come out Mr FBI or I put a bullet in this guy."

Taking a deep breath, but not seeing any other option, he stood up.

"Slide your gun out here."

"I can't do that. Put your weapon down and we'll all walk out of here in one piece. If you don't then this is going to go very bad for you. Those officers you shot at will be calling in SWAT."

"In that case I have nothing to lose, you have 30 seconds to slide your weapon out here and step out with your hands raised before I kill this dude."

He needed to buy the LAPD some time, he figured the best way to do that was to surrender his weapon and try to talk this guy down. He bent down and slid his gun out. Then walked out with this hands raised shoulder high.

"OK, now what?"

"You die."

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Gunfire sounded from inside the store, everyone ducked for cover behind the vehicles. Once it stopped the LAPD Sergeant stood up slowly. "Anyone hit?" Calls from around the parking lot confirmed that everyone was uninjured.

"The shots were fired inside the store. Damn, we need to know what's going on in there. How far out are SWAT?" Don asked.

"They'll be at least another 15 minutes."

"We don't have that long, this guy is too trigger happy. We're going to have to go in."

"I can't allow that Agent Eppes. Protocol says we wait for SWAT to arrive."

"Sergeant, one of my Agents is in there, I can not stand out here with my thumb up my ass and wait for him to get shot."

"With all due respect, this is an LAPD scene, you were invited as a courtesy."

"I can make a call and this will become an FBI case."

"Don, this isn't the way to resolve this." Megan stepped between the two men. "Sergeant, you have to understand that the man in that store has nothing left to lose. Not only is our colleague in there, he is also our friend."

"Look, I understand, I really do, but we can't just go in there without back up."

"We can." Stated Don. "Let us go in, I'll take full responsibility."

The Sergeant hesitated, the situation had gone from bad to worse in a matter of a few minutes, he whole heartedly agreed that SWAT would be unlikely to make it in time. Sighing he nodded. "Alright, but this is on your head."

Don nodded and turned to the rest of his team. "Right, Megan and David take the right side of the door, Liz and I will take the left side, on my signal we'll make entry. Stay low, hopefully we'll take him by surprise and be able to disarm him before any more shots are fired."

The team quietly approached the store from the sides, they were out of the line of sight of the gunman. The sight that met their eyes when they were in position outside the store had their hearts in their mouths. They watched horrified as Colby slid his gun to the man holding up the store and walked out with his hands raised. The words they heard next chilled the blood in their veins as the gunman told Colby he would die now.

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Colby was sure his heart had just stopped at the words, he had to act now or things were going to take a very bad turn for him. At that moment a noise from outside caused the gun wielding maniac to turn his attention away from Colby, before the man could turn back the FBI agent took his chance and lunged. He caught the gunman off guard and knocked him to the ground, grabbing his right arm as he did. They hit the floor and the gun went off, at the same time there were shouts from outside. The next thing they were surrounded by Colby's team mates, David grabbed the weapon, Don helped his youngest agent to his feet and Megan, aided by Liz, cuffed the man and marched him out to the waiting LAPD officers.

Before Don or David could ask Colby if he was OK, he was jogging towards the other side of the store, when he appeared again he had his arm protectively around a young woman and was carrying a little girl. Exchanging glances but saying nothing they ushered the young cashier out behind Colby. He didn't stop until he had reached the ambulance that had been waiting in case of casualties. He handed the little girl over to the paramedics, squeezed the woman's arm and turned back to face his colleagues.

"Man, are you OK?" Asked David concerned.

"I'm good. Gimme a minute." Without waiting for a response he walked off to a wall that skirted the parking lot and sat with his back to the store. He took a few deep breaths, he was uninjured apart from the ringing in his ears where the gun had gone off in close proximity to his head as he tackled the gunman. It was unbelievable, he was stalked by some maniac yet he nearly gets his head blown off by a teenager, because that's all the gunman was, just a kid, he hadn't realised until he was looking him right in the eye. All of a sudden he started to laugh, he couldn't help himself, perhaps it was the shock.

The others had been watching him carefully and saw his shoulders suddenly start shaking, concerned they hurried over to him as one. On reaching him they were astonished to hear the sound of him laughing.

"Colb?"

He turned to face Don, tears running down his face. "I'm fine, honestly. Got a bit of ringing in my ears, but that's all."

"Care to share the joke?" Asked Megan.

"I was just thinking how ironic it would have been to have survived all the stalking stuff only to have my head shot off by some kid."

"And that's funny to you?" Asked an incredulous David.

"Yeah, actually it is. I think if I don't laugh then maybe I'll crack up and lose it completely."

"Granger I think you lost it a long time ago." Retorted Liz, she was stunned by his reaction to the situation.

"David, drive him home. I don't think he's in a fit state to do it himself. He can give his statement to LAPD tomorrow. I'll clear it with the Sergeant." Don walked off shaking his head, he'd never understand his youngest agent.

David pulled Colby to his feet. "Give me your car keys." He handed them over without complaint and allowed his partner to lead him to his own car and he got into the passenger seat. When they reached Colby's apartment he turned to David. "Sorry dude, didn't mean to freak you out."

"Hey, don't worry about it, go get some sleep and I'll swing by and pick you up in the morning as I'm gonna need your car to get me home."

"See you in the morning then." Colby got out of the car and once again headed to his apartment, once inside he locked the door. He leant against it and closed his eyes, for some reason the idea of getting his head shot off by a teenager had freaked him out more than nearly being beaten to death, sometimes there was just no accounting for subconscious reactions. Sighing he forced himself into the bedroom and collapsed fully clothed onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.


	18. Surprise

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Enjoy!**

Chapter Eighteen – Surprise.

The morning after the convenience store robbery David picked Colby up at his apartment and drove him to LAPD so that he could give his statement. After David had waited round for an hour Colby was finally finished and they headed to the office. As they walked into the bull pen Don and Megan turned to greet them, after the usual hello and how are you comments the Supervisor finally asked the question that had been bothering him since discovering Colby was in the store that was being robbed. "Why didn't you use your panic button on your car keys?"

"I didn't think it would be an appropriate use of it." Stated Colby.

"I hate to think what you would see as an appropriate use of it then!" Retorted Megan.

"Seriously, what did you think it was for?" Asked Don.

"I thought it was for if I was being threatened by someone."

"And you didn't think that a guy waving a gun around qualified?" David was amazed.

"Well he wasn't really threatening me initially. I didn't wanna abuse it and have the AD come down on me for it."

Shaking his head Don said "I really don't think the AD would have had an issue with you using it under those circumstances."

"It wasn't necessary."

"You are one stubborn SOB!" Stated Liz.

"Whatever. Will someone tell me who the guy was?"

"His name is Brad Chalmers, the younger brother of the guy we arrested earlier in the evening. He worships the ground Dave walks on. He knew about the robberies and his brother wouldn't let him be part of it, so he decided to go out and prove to his big brother that he could do it without him." David supplied.

"Bad case of older brother worship. Brad is very insecure and just wanted to be involved in what his brother was doing." Megan told him.

"Poor kid." Colby felt sorry for the teenager, it couldn't have been easy growing up with a criminal for a father and a brother who didn't want anything to do with you.

"Right you lot, back to work, I want your paperwork completed and on my desk before the day is out people." Ordered Don.

"Slave driver." Mumbled Colby.

"Heard that Granger!"

David turned to his partner. "You should know better than that man. Doesn't matter how quiet you say it, Don will hear it." He chuckled at the look of discomfort on his friend's face.

"You better believe it, didn't become Supervisor of Violent Crimes for nothing." Stated Don. "So, Granger, I guess dinner is on you tonight."

"Aw man, come on."

"If you can't do the time, don't commit the crime!"

"Crime, what crime?"

"Mumbling about your boss!"

"You're not helping Sinclair."

"Not trying to Granger."

"So who is up for dinner after work tonight, Granger is paying?" Don asked the team, unfortunately for Colby everyone agreed it was a brilliant idea. "Excellent, well lets get the paperwork wrapped up on this one then we'll get out on time." The team settled down to get on with the arduous task.

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The day had dragged, but finally all the paperwork was complete and on Don's desk. They all turned as Colby tried to grab his jacket and dash out of the office. "Whoa there, wait up Granger, you're still on the hook for buying dinner tonight." Said Don.

Sighing Colby responded "Fine, but I get to choose where we eat, if I leave it up to you I'll be eating stale bread until payday, you'll pick the most expensive place you can think of."

"Oh you wound me Colb." Laughed Don.

"Yeah, whatever. Pizza it is then." Grabbing their jackets they followed him out. They agreed on where they were going and each got into their respective cars, planning to head home straight from the pizza place.

When they arrived the five friends were shown to a booth and handed menus. It didn't take them long to choose and before long they were enjoying their meal and laughing at Colby's lame jokes, or rather at Colby himself. He didn't mind, it was good to be relaxing with the team, his friends.

"Wow, look at the time." Said Megan "I really should be heading home. I have court tomorrow. Thanks for dinner Colb."

"I certainly won't be mumbling anything in the future, costs too much!"

The rest of the team laughed, said their thanks and left him to pay the bill. "Want me to hang around and walk you to your car, wouldn't want ya to trip over or injure yourself in the dark." Smirked David.

"Haha, very funny Sinclair. I think I can manage. Get outta here." Colby rolled his eyes and gave his partner a friendly shove towards the door. "See you tomorrow."

David waved as he headed out the door and to his car.

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Colby had paid the bill and walked out into the car park. His car was in the far corner, which was where the only available spaces were when they arrived. He noticed that the light in that corner was out leaving the corner cast in shadow. He didn't give it much thought as he walked towards his car, as he unlocked it a figure stepped out of the shadows. Instinctively he reached for his gun, but it wasn't there, he had taken it off and locked it in the trunk of his car. Remembering that he had the panic button on his car keys he went to press it when a voice stopped him.

"Colby."

He couldn't believe who stood before him. "Jasmine?"

"Hi."

"Wow, you disappear for 5 weeks and hi is the best you can come up with?"

"I know you must be confused and angry…."

"You have no idea how I feel Jasmine, since I met you my life has been turned upside down, I've just started to get some stability back and now you reappear with a simple hi."

"I need your help, I'm sorry I never intended to see you again, but I'm in trouble."

"The only thing I can do for you now is to take you in for questioning."

"What? For what reason?"

"Jasmine, think about it. I meet you and suddenly I have a bull's eye on my back, you leave and I've stopped getting threats. Rutherford said that you were trouble."

"Hang on, you really think that was all me?"

"I don't know, but look at it from my point of view. I have no proof it was you, but everything has pointed to you and, or Rutherford. He's locked up. It doesn't take one of Charlie's algorithms to work it out, but you can do the math."

"Oh my god, I really thought you were different, but you're like all the other guys. I've made some mistakes, I don't deny that, but I don't deserve to be treated like this."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you lied to me."

"I didn't know you well enough to tell you everything about my past. If I thought you felt for me the same way I feel for you then I would have told you. I am not proud of what happened when I was living in the UK, but I moved over here to put it behind me. I had no idea that marrying Jason would turn out to be such a huge mistake." Cried Jasmine, she was devastated by his attitude, she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I don't know what you want me to say. You have to come in to the office with me, it's the only way we will sort this mess out, either way."

"I can't do that Colby."

"Can't, or won't?"

"You don't understand."  
"You're right I don't. You wanted my help, well that's all I can do. I'm done trying to help you with this. I nearly died, David was almost killed in an explosion, and I've had enough."

"Colby, please." Begged Jasmine.

"No, Jasmine. Forget it." Colby's voice had an edge to it she had never heard, like he was barely keeping his temper.

"I'm sorry, this was a mistake." Before he could do anything she turned and ran, he took off after her but she vanished in a maze of alleys.

"Ah dammit." Swore Colby. He grabbed his phone and looked at it trying to decide who he should call, wondering if he should call anyone. He could forget he saw her and just get on with his life, but now he knew she was still around he wasn't sure that it was safe to keep the information to himself. Maybe he should wait until tomorrow, but then he'd probably get into trouble for not reporting it straight away. Sighing he pressed speed dial number 3 on his phone.

"What's up Colb, you broken a nail?"

"Jasmine's back." He stated simply.

"Are you OK? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, in the car park at the pizza place."

"Don't move, I'm coming straight back."

"Thanks man." Colby hung up his cell and waited for his partner to arrive. He'd know the best way to handle this latest situation. A short time later David came racing into the car park. He was out of the car almost before he had turned off the ignition.

"Don is on his way. I thought it best to call him as well. You sure you're OK?"

Relieved to have any further decisions taken out of his hands for the time being, Colby replied. "I'm good. Thanks for coming back."

"Hey man, what did you think I would do? Not gonna leave you to deal with this on your own." Both men turned as another car pulled in and Don got out.

"What's going on?" Wasting no time in getting to the heart of the matter.

"I came out to my car and Jasmine came out of the shadows."

"What did she want?"

"My help, said she was in trouble. When I refused to do anything other than take her to the FBI for questioning she took off down there." He pointed in the direction that he had chased her in. "She vanished down an alley and given the situation I felt it prudent not to try to find her on my own."

"You did the right thing Colb. Let's do a quick search and see if we can find any clues as to where she's gone."

They each grabbed a flashlight out of their car and Colby retrieved his gun from his trunk and secured it back in its holster and the three men set off in the direction Colby had indicated.

"Any idea what kind of trouble she's in?" Asked David.

"No clue, we didn't get that far."

They searched the alley where Jasmine had vanished but could see no sign of where she might have gone. The doors in the alley were all locked and led to businesses. They looked for tyre tracks but they were unable to identify any individual tracks, it was dark and there was rubbish littering the alley.

"Don, I don't think we're going to find anything. The best thing we can do is put out a broadcast with her description to LAPD." David suggested.

"Yeah, you're right, this is a waste of time. Let's go back to the parking lot."

They walked the short way back to the cars in silence. Once back at the cars Don turned to Colby. "What do you want to do?"

"How do you mean?"

"Do you want to stay somewhere other than your apartment, or should one of us come and stay at yours?"

"No. No way, I am not putting my life on hold because she has appeared again. I am going to carry on as normal."

"Man, are you sure that's wise?" Asked a worried David.

"Wise? Maybe not, necessary, definitely."

"That stubborn streak again eh?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Well I'll follow you home at least."

"Don, that's not necessary, I have the panic alarms."

"It is necessary, I will not take no for an answer. End of."

"Alright, if it makes you happy."

"It will."

"If you need anything, call me." Said David as he got back in his car.

"Thanks, see ya tomorrow." Colby and Don got in their respective cars with his boss following him. Once they pulled up outside his apartment Don got out of his car and walked up to the apartment with him. Unlocking the door he went in and turned on the lights. Content that his young agent was safe Don said goodnight and left him, reminding him to lock the door. Colby rolled his eyes, waved at the older man and did as he was told. He walked into the middle of his sitting room and just stood there, his mind was buzzing with lots of different thoughts, he had no idea how he was supposed to feel about Jasmine's appearance. He was angry that she had returned and expected him to help without question, knocking him off the equilibrium he had found, but he was also worried about her, she had said that she was in trouble and needed help. Had she really expected him to just drop everything, she had lied to him. Colby started pacing up and down with frustration, he should be going to bed, he had work in the morning, but he couldn't even sit down right now, let alone sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"How was he when you left him Don?" Asked Megan, she and Liz had just been filled in on the events of the previous night.

"Hard to tell really, he isn't exactly vocal over things like that! Just look at the situation in the safe house."

"Any thing from LAPD?" Asked David.

"I just checked in with them and nothing over night, they will let us know if they get anything." Replied Liz.

"I don't think she'll be turning up again." Colby had walked in and none of them had noticed.

"Morning Colb. How are you doing?" Megan wanted to know.

"Tired, didn't get much sleep."

"Hardly surprising. Why do you think she won't appear again?"

"She didn't get what she wanted."

"You mean you aren't pandering to her?"

"That's right, I'm done."

"I hope you're right Colb, but I wouldn't be so sure." Megan's tone held a note of caution. "She said she loved you, that feeling doesn't just go away."

"I know you're right, but I can't spend any more time worrying about it. I just want to get on with my life."

"We understand that man, but you have to know we're not going to stop looking for her." David stated firmly. "She is part of an ongoing investigation."

"That's our job, I'm alright with that. She may be completely innocent in all this, but I have to reconcile myself to the fact that until she is found and bought in we won't know either way."

"Right, there is a BOLO out with LAPD, they'll let us know if they find anything, we are also watching her bank account and credit cards for use, though it's unlikely that she'll use them. In the meantime let's get on with our jobs."

"Good idea, what have we got?" Asked Colby, looking for a distraction.

"An abduction. A young girl, Jenny Knowles, was snatched at a shopping mall, the kidnapper turned nasty when the nanny screamed for help and a security guard tried to stop him. The guard is in a coma, the doctors don't know if he'll make it. The worst part is it's not the first time this guy has struck. He's done it before and though the child was found alive she's extremely traumatised, naturally."

"The kidnapper is a male in his late 20's, 5 foot 10, well built, sandy hair. He doesn't try to disguise his face, but the techs have run facial recognition on the pictures that we've got from the security cameras and haven't found a match, so he's either new to this or never been caught." Liz supplied.

"It's not clear what his motivation is behind these abductions. The two girls are similar in age, the first one is 9 years old, and the second is 8. The mother's are single and they are only children. I can tell you that even though he doesn't disguise his face he is methodical and has planned both these kidnappings carefully, may even have watched the families for days waiting for the right opportunity."

"Any signs of abuse?" Colby didn't really want to ask the question, but they needed to try to find out why this guy had taken these 2 girls.

"No, there seems to be no sexual component. The first girl, Melissa Murphy, has said he was nice to her, didn't hurt her or threaten her in anyway, but never told her why he had taken her. He held her for 3 days and then dropped her at another shopping mall, physically unharmed."

"Can Charlie help with this?"

"He's on his way in."

"Let's hope he can, this guy held the last girl for 3 days, unharmed, but who knows if his plan is the same for this one."

"What do we know about her family?" Asked Colby.

"Sammy Knowles is a paediatrician, she has been raising Jenny on her own since she was born, the father is not on the scene, he ran out on her whilst she was pregnant. Jenny is looked after by a nanny when she is working or by her Grandparents. The usual checks have been run on both families and nothing jumps out to be honest." Don told his team. "Both girls were taken from different malls."

"Can you give me the details of those malls, and the one where the first girl was left?" The team turned at the sound of Charlie's voice.

"Yeah, no worries Chuck." Don handed his brother the details of all three locations.

"Right, I'll get to work and see if I can find anything."

"Megan, why don't you and Liz go and interview Melissa and her family. David and I will speak with Sammy Knowles and her parents. Colby, stay here, see if you can help Charlie." The team split up to carry out their tasks.

"What do you need from me Charlie?"

"You can put this map up and put pins in to represent the mall locations. Then can you plot where both children and their families live."  
Colby did as he was asked, once he was done he stood back and looked at the map. He couldn't see anything, other than a map stuck with a lot of pins. He had plotted the malls, the girls' houses and schools. Knowing that he had done all he could to help Charlie he sat down to go through the files on both abductions. The only common denominator seemed to be that their mothers were single and the fathers weren't on the scene. A thought suddenly struck him, picking up a phone he dialled Don and then Megan asking that when they interviewed the mothers they asked for more details about the absentee fathers. The information gathered on them so far was scant at best.

With in an hour of him calling them both Don and Megan had called him back and told him all they had been able to glean about both the girls' fathers. He made a note of the names, ages, occupation and last known addresses for both men. Armed with that information he sat at his desk and searched for any information on either of them. He quickly discovered that both the girls fathers, and he used the term loosely when he thought about either of the men that had abandoned their children, were still living in the LA area, he had tracked them both through their employers and had addresses for each of them. He stuck his head round the door leading into the war room where Charlie was working. "Hey man, I'm heading out to interview the fathers of these two girls. Anything you need before I go?"

"Yeah could you please put both their home addresses and places of employment on the map?"

"No problem." He walked over and stuck four more pins in the map. "Will be on my cell if you need me."

Charlie didn't even look up from what he was doing, just waved a hand and mumbled something unintelligible.


	19. Terrified

**Disclaimer: Don't own nowt, including Numb3rs and the characters. **

**A/N: There is some more mild Colby whumping and it probably won't be the last!**

Chapter Nineteen – Terrified

Colby pulled up outside the garage in which Melissa Murphy's father worked. He asked a mechanic to point him out and went to speak to him. The man was, to put it nicely, a loser. He clearly had no interest in his daughter and wanted nothing to do with her. He left Colby in no doubt that Melissa was better off without her father in her life. Leaving the garage before he did something that could lose him his job he pulled out his cell and called Don to let him know that Melissa's father was a dead end. He then got back into the car and drove to the restaurant where Jenny Knowles father worked. This time when he asked for him he was told that he was out sick and hadn't been in for a few days. Once again he called Don.

"Ian Gains isn't in work, I'm going to drop by his home."

"Alright Colb, call me when you're done." Don replied and hung up.

Don was back in the office with the rest of the team, they were discussing what they had found out from the respective families, it wasn't much, certainly nothing that indicated who may have taken the girls.

"There is no common theme really. The girls are a similar age being raised by their single mothers, other than that there are no similarities. They don't attend the same schools or live in the same neighbourhood. Isn't that usually part of the MO with these guys?" Asked Liz.

"That's true in some cases but not in every case. The fact that these girls are a similar age and have the same hair and eye colour could be all the offender needs to draw him to them." Replied Megan.

"I still think there has to be more to it than that." Said David.

"I agree. There was no abuse of the first girl, that is unusual when there is no ransom demand made, there is nothing normal about this abduction."

"Don, where do we go from here?"  
"Well…" He never got to finish his sentence as Charlie came rushing out of the war room calling his name across the office.

"Don!"

"I'm here Chuck, what's got you so excited?"

"Come with me, I'll show you."

The whole team exchanged curious glances but followed the excited young mathematician anyway. They entered the war room and waited for Charlie to start.

"Colby plotted all the known points for both children and parents. There was no pattern and no algorithm was finding anything. Then it struck me, it's because there is too much information."

"Hang on a minute Charlie, you're always saying more information is better." David was puzzled.

"That's true, but this is an exception to that rule."

"What is it about this that makes it the exception, come on Chuck you have to be more specific."

"OK, there were anomalies within the data that Colby provided. The locations for Melissa Murphy's father were throwing off the data. When I removed those locations the pattern became apparent. I think I have found where the kidnapper is."

"Where?" Asked Liz urgently.

"There." Charlie pointed at the pin that Colby had stuck in the map for Ian Gains' home address. David didn't hang around to hear any more, he left the room to make a call, if Charlie said that's where the kidnapper was then he believed him, he'd been right too many times to disregard what he was saying, he had to warn Colby, if the man was holding Jenny there he would not appreciate an FBI Agent knocking on the door asking questions.

"You're sure? What makes you think it's there?" Asked Don.

"It's the only place that makes sense, it's the one address that falls outside the zone of where the girls lived and the places they were abducted from."

"They don't want to commit a crime near to their home, but he might be willing to take her back to his house because he feels safe there."

"That's right."

David hurried back into the room. "Don, I can't get hold of Colby, he's not answering his cell."

The Supervisor groaned. "Damn. Our very own trouble magnet has more than likely knocked on the door of a suspected kidnapper. Get your gear, we'd better get over there. Liz get hold of SWAT." Turning to Charlie. "Thanks bro."

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Colby pulled up outside a single storey house. It was run down, paint peeling from round the windows. The whole neighbourhood looked like it had seen better days. He got out of the car and approached the door, he noticed a curtain twitch off to the right, so he knew that he was being watched. Knocking he waited for the door to be answered. The door was opened by a man in his late twenties, dark brown hair already going grey at the temples.

"Mr Gains?"

"Yes, can I help you?" Asked the man.

"I'm Agent Granger with the FBI." He showed Ian Gains his ID. "Can I speak to you for a moment please?" The man didn't open the door wider to allow him in, Colby would later wish he had paid more attention to this fact.

"Why?"

"It's about your daughter."

"I don't have a daughter."

"Yes, Mr Gains, you do, and we both know it. She has been abducted and I need to ask you some questions. We can do it here or at FBI headquarters."

Glancing over his shoulder Ian Gains opened the door further and allowed Colby to step across the threshold. He took a moment to glance round the house, like the outside it appeared tired and in desperate need of redecoration, following Ian through to the sitting area he noticed that the furniture had seen better days as well, but nonetheless he sat down when invited to do so.

"How can I help?"

"Jenny was taken from a shopping mall earlier today, a security guard was critically injured during the abduction. When was the last time you saw your daughter?"

"Agent Granger, I am sure you already know I walked out on Sammy when she was pregnant. I have never seen my daughter."

"Do you know where she lives or goes to school?"

"No." The man responded.

Colby thought Gains responded too quickly, there was something off, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "I went by your place of work, but they said you were out sick and had been for a few days."  
"That's right, I've had a stomach bug, can't work with food if you're ill."

"I see. Do you live alone Mr Gains?" Colby asked when he heard a muffled sound coming from another room.

"Yeah, I have a couple of cats, I need to go and see what they're up to."

"Don't let me stop you, I still have a couple of questions to ask you, so I'll wait." His tone brooked no argument. He watched as Gains got up and left the room. Once sure the man was gone he stood up and started to have a nose round, he didn't really know what he was looking for, but when he spotted a doll behind one of the armchairs he was certain that Gains was lying to him. He walked into the hallway looking for the man who seemed to have vanished, he heard a noise coming from behind a door, it sounded like a child whimpering. Listening carefully he could hear Gains doing something in a room that he thought to be the kitchen, without another moments hesitation he opened the door quietly. Sitting on a bed in the corner of the room was Jenny Knowles, he glanced over his shoulder before heading into the room, placing his finger against his lips indicating to the terrified child that she should be quiet. Going to her side he enveloped her in a comforting embrace, trying to reassure her. "Hey sweetie, my name's Colby, I'm a police man. It's going to be OK." He whispered. Pulling the trembling child to her feet he kept her close as he walked to the door, he looked round to make sure the coast was clear and ushered her from the room towards the front door. Unfortunately Colby didn't see the man quietly approaching them as he was busy trying to unlock the front door, Jenny did and immediately stiffened. Colby sensing the change in her turned just as Gains went to take a swing at him with a piece of wood, he managed to deflect the blow, but not before it glanced off his forehead making him see stars and causing a cut above his eye, in trying to avoid the coming blow he was knocked off balance and fell to the floor. He hadn't had his gun out as he had been intent on not scaring Jenny Knowles any more than she was already and now before he could reach for it Gains grabbed the girl and pulled out a knife.

"You should have left when you had the chance Agent Granger. Now take your gun and slide it over to me please, and your cell."

Colby could see him waving the knife around, he didn't think the man was going to hurt Jenny, but he couldn't take the chance so he reluctantly took out his weapon and cell, which he then slid to the man.

Gains leaned forward and spoke to Jenny. "Pick them up honey, and hand them to Daddy." Too scared to do anything other than what she was told she bent down and picked them up, as she handed Gains the items Colby's cell started to ring.

"That will be my partner, he is going to wonder why I'm not answering."

"By the time they figure out where you are I'll be long gone."

Colby decided it would be prudent not to tell the man wielding a knife and clinging to a terrified 8 year old that the team knew exactly where he was, he needed to buy them some time, ensure that the man was still here when they figured out that they needed to come and get him out of yet another tight spot. He really needed to come up with a way to stop getting into tight spots in the first place, but he could worry about that later.

"Look Ian, I don't know why you've done what you have, but I am sure you don't want to hurt Jenny."

"Are you mad? Of course I don't want to hurt her. She's my daughter, I want to get to know her, she should know her Dad."

Colby glanced at the girl and tried to convey with his eyes that she was going to be alright and he was going to get her out of this, somehow. "I don't think this is the best way Ian. Kidnapping isn't exactly going to make a judge award you visitation rights."

"Kidnapping, how can spending time with my little girl be kidnapping?"  
"I was thinking more about Melissa Murphy, the first girl you kidnapped, she wasn't your daughter. If you turn yourself in now then I can tell the ADA that you came in voluntarily, they'll cut you a deal." Colby had no idea if this was true, he was winging it, but he had to do something.

"Then I'll never see Jenny again. This way she is with me always. That first girl, Melissa that was a mistake. I thought she was my daughter, when I saw her mother on the TV I realised my error and dropped her off at the mall, where I knew she would be found. She looked so like Jenny."

"I thought you said you had never seen her?"

"Oh, I had seen her at both the malls. I didn't run out on them completely voluntarily, it was Sammy's parents, they told her I wasn't good enough for her, their constant nagging drove a wedge between us, we had a massive row and I walked away, I couldn't stand the constant fighting. That doesn't mean I haven't been watching for her all these years, waiting for my chance."

During this exchange Colby had started to move forward as unobtrusively as possible, he needed to get Jenny away from Gains, he was clearly unstable. The girl had grown silent, she no longer struggled against her father's hands. Colby could see a glint of determination suddenly appear in her eyes, before he had time to fully process this thought she stamped hard on Gains' foot, he let go of her, though not before cutting her arm with the knife he was holding. Colby had no choice but to react, he barrelled forward into the man whilst he was still surprised by Jenny's attack, he knocked him to the floor, grabbed the girl and pushed her ahead of him. Ideally he wanted to get her out of the house, but Gains had been between them and the outside. Pushing Jenny back in to the bedroom she had been held in he closed the door behind them and dragged the bed across the door, at the very least buying them some time.

Within seconds there was angry banging on the other side of the door. Looking at Jenny and seeing that her arm was bleeding he inspected the wound quickly, it wasn't deep but he needed to stop the steady flow of blood. He grabbed a sheet from the bed and tore a strip off it wrapping it round her arm as a makeshift bandage. No sooner had he done this than a blood curdling scream of rage emanated from the man standing on the other side of the door, it was enough to freeze Colby's blood.

He heard the distinctive sound of a gun being made ready to fire, grabbing Jenny he pushed her to the floor and covered her with his body. He sincerely hoped that the team were on their way, it wasn't going to take long for this maniac to get in the room and the windows were barred. As bullets hit and pierced the thin wood Colby tried to protect Jenny with his body without crushing her with his weight, he felt a hot searing pain as a bullet grazed his arm, he didn't dare lift his head to inspect the damage. After what seemed like hours but was actually only seconds the shooting stopped, Gains had run out of bullets, and the silence that followed was deafening. He could feel Jenny trembling beneath him, he whispered nonsense trying to soothe her, she looked at his arm which he could see was bleeding, the bullet had grazed his upper arm. He took a few moments to assure her he was OK.

Gains was now kicking at the door and he could see that it was going to give any moment, there was nowhere to go so he put Jenny in the far corner of the room and stood between her and the door, he was fully prepared to fight Gains in hand to hand combat. Both his FBI and Army training would stand him in good stead, but he was unarmed and Gains had a knife.

A last hard kick to the bedroom door splintered it into hundreds of pieces, Gains easily pushed the bed out of the way and entered the room, he glared menacingly at Colby. "Nobody is going to stand between me and my daughter." He lunged at the agent with the knife, which Colby neatly side stepped. The younger man was smaller than Colby, but he was quick and was fuelled by anger, his attack was ferocious.

Colby was working on instinct, both survival and protection. It was his duty to protect this little girl and he would do so to the best of his abilities until help arrived or either he or Gains were laying on the floor unable to fight any longer. Gains suddenly tried a new tactic, he started swiping the knife at Colby, causing him to jump back, in the small room it wasn't long before the FBI agent's back was literally up against the wall and he had nowhere to go. Out of shear self preservation and fear for the safety of Jenny he deflected the next swipe of the knife with his arm, ignoring the pain of the blade slicing his skin, he made a grab for the weapon. Gains' tried to pull away, but Colby had a strong grip around his wrist, both men fell to the ground, rolling round trying to get control of the knife.

Gains struck Colby in the face with his elbow causing his nose to bleed, but the determined agent refused to let go of the hold he had on the other man and retaliated with a pile driver punch to Gains' jaw.

There was no doubt in Colby's mind that this was going badly for him and he needed to do something to gain the upper hand. His chance came when the sound of sirens in the distance caused Gains to pause long enough for Colby to grab hold of the hand wielding the knife with both of his hands, he forced the man to drop it by bending his wrist back. Gains cried out in pain, which gave Colby a small moment of satisfaction, but not one to rest on his laurels he punched his tormentor in the face once more, this time rendering the man unconscious.

Breathing heavily Colby staggered to his feet, picked the knife up off the floor and threw it into the hallway out of reach if the man should regain consciousness. The sound of the sirens was getting nearer, much to his relief. He made his way over to Jenny who had been cowering in the corner, her hands covering her face. He squatted down in front of her and gently placed his hands over hers.

"Jenny, it's OK, he's not going to hurt you again sweetie."

She looked into the gentle green eyes of the man who had just rescued her, with tears rolling down her cheeks she threw her arms round his neck, buried her head in the crook of his shoulder and clung to him as if her life still depended on him. "Shhhh, it's alright, shall we get outta here?" He asked softly and felt her nod.

Despite his injuries he gathered the girl up in his arms and started to carry her out of the room, stepping over the prone body of the man that had held her captive, even if only for a short time.

As he stepped into the hallway there was a loud crash as a battering ram connected with the front door and shattered the lock. The little girl in his arms let out a cry, he gently rubbed her back reassuringly and stood still, not wanting to alarm any heavily armed agents.

If Colby had been inclined to humour at that moment he would have laughed at the way the first SWAT agent through the door stopped in his tracks at the sight of Colby, causing the rest of the entry team to crash into one another. Luckily the lead agent knew who Colby was.

"He's in there." He nodded towards the bedroom and strode passed the stunned men. Big burly Agent Granger gently cradling a little girl was a sight to behold and not one any of them would forget in a hurry. The SWAT team returned to their normal professional selves in a fraction of a second and went to secure Gains.

Hot on the heels of the entry team had been the rest of Colby's team. One look at him told Don that now was not the time to ask questions and he immediately radioed for an ambulance. The team quietly escorted the pair to one of the SUVs. David opened the door to allow Colby to lower Jenny in but she wouldn't let go of him so he sat himself down and put her on his lap, gently stroking her hair as she quietly sobbed.

When the ambulance arrived he carried her over and climbed in with her, his demeanour told the paramedics that they'd be better not to argue with the large man, he was clearly extremely protective of this child and she was obviously traumatised, but trusted him.

Don looked at Colby as he settled the little girl on his lap once more. "We'll see you at the hospital." He stated softly. Smiling gratefully his youngest agent simply nodded in thanks and the doors were closed behind him.

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At the hospital Jenny had got extremely upset if Colby tried to leave her, so he had stayed with her whilst she was treated for the cut to her arm, once the wound had been stitched and bandaged the nurse turned to the FBI agent.

"Come with me and I'll take a look at you now."

As soon as he went to follow her Jenny started to sob. "Please don't go."

Turning back he put his arms around the weeping child. "Its OK, I'm not going anywhere." He looked at the nurse apologetically, she knew better than to argue with him, she had already tried to get him to leave the little girl when they had come in, she had even tried to treat him whilst he was watching over the child, but she was so terrified she wouldn't let go of him making it impossible to inspect his injuries as thoroughly as she needed to. Sighing she shook her head and left the room where she bumped into a man wearing an FBI jacket.

"Hi, I'm looking for Agent Granger and Jenny Knowles, I'm his Supervisor, Agent Eppes."

"Well, Agent Eppes, perhaps you will have better luck separating the pair of them than I have. Your agent needs to be examined but as yet we have been unable to do so as Jenny won't let go of his hand, let alone allow him out of her sight."

"Leave it with me, I'll see what I can do. Jenny's Mom is on her way." The nurse indicated the room behind her and watched as the Supervisor and another agent entered the room. Both men were astonished at the sight that met their eyes, Colby had sat up on the bed and pulled Jenny against him, she was curled up sleeping, the only sound was a soft whimper from her every now and then. Don and David knew that their friend had a softer side, but they had never seen him so protective.

"Hey Colb." Whispered Don.

"Boss. Where is Gains?"

"Megan and Liz have taken him in, you gave him a concussion but the doctors released him to our custody. He isn't going to get anywhere near Jenny again." Replied David. He looked closely at his partner, he was sporting the start of a pair of nice black eyes from where he was elbowed in the face, not to mention that blood streaked his left arm in two different places. "You need to get that looked at man."

"I'm not leaving her." He replied matter of factly.

"Her Mom will be here soon." Assured Don.

"When she arrives then, and only then, I will see someone. Don't worry they're just superficial."

"Bud, when did you become a doctor." David said sarcastically, he was worried and it made him snappy.

Keeping his voice calm and low so as not to disturb his small charge. "The paramedic had a quick look in the ambulance. I'm OK man, honestly."

David's shoulders sagged. "I'll go and see if I can find out when her Mom will get here."

Giving a quick glance at Colby Don followed him out into the hospital corridor, pulling the door quietly shut behind him, he rested his hand on David's shoulder. "Don't be too hard on him, at the moment his focus is Jenny. As soon as her Mom is here we'll make sure that he gets looked at, OK?"

"Yeah. It's just he's been through so much, and now this. When does it ever end?"

Don shrugged. "There is no doubt about it, wherever trouble is Colby isn't far away these days."

"Can you assign him to desk duty? I must have aged 10 years in the last 4 months! If I had any hair it would be completely gray!"

"Oh yeah, I can see Colby sitting at a desk, not. Dude, we're just gonna have to get some complete body armour for him."

"How about a riot shield for extra protection as well?"

"I'll see what I can do." Both men gave weary smiles, it had been a long day. At the sound of a commotion down the hall they turned to see Sammy Knowles hurrying towards them.

"Where's Jenny? Is she OK?"

"She's OK Ms Knowles, she has a cut to her arm but she will be fine. She is in with one of my agents."

"Thank God. I want to see her."

"Of course, come with us." They led her to the room and opened the door.

"Jenny." She cried out, taking no notice of the man her daughter was huddled against. Jenny startled awake at the sound of her Mother's voice.

"Mommy." She looked at Colby who smiled and slid off the bed to allow Sammy Knowles to take his place.

She pulled her daughter into her embrace, kissing her forehead gently, clearly relieved to have her daughter back safe.

Taking one more look at the scene before him Colby smiled and turned to join his colleagues out in the hallway.

"Right, let's get you taken care of." Don stated and led him down the corridor towards a waiting nurse. "He's all yours."

The nurse took Colby into another room and closed the door. Without a word the nurse assisted him to remove his jacket and shirt. "Sit on the bed please." He did as he was told without argument, now he wasn't worrying about Jenny his arm was starting to throb. The nurse gently cleaned both the wounds on his arm and the cut above his eye. "You were lucky, the bullet only grazed your arm, I won't need to use stitches, just strips to pull the wound together, same with the cut over your eye." She turned her attention to the knife wound. "Not so lucky with this, it's deeper and will need a few stitches, your clothes prevented the wound being any worse though." This said she left the room to return a few minutes later with the paraphernalia that she needed to treat his wounds. When she had finished stitching and bandaging his injuries the nurse helped him back into his ripped shirt, put his arm in a sling and then put his jacket over his shoulders. "Have you got some painkillers at home, you may find you need them?"

"Yup, still got some from my last trip here." The nurse merely raised her eyebrows in response to this statement and ushered her patient out to his waiting friends. "You'll need to take it easy for a few days…"  
"I know, I don't want to pull the stitches. Thank you." Nodding the nurse went back to work. Colby turned to Don. "And yes, I know, you're taking me home." He said before his boss could say a word.

"Psychic now eh?"

"Nope, just been here a few too many times, I know the drill."

"Let's go." The three FBI agents walked out to Don's SUV and were silent on the drive to Colby's apartment. When he pulled up outside Don turned to him as he got out. "You did good Colby." Never good at taking compliments the younger man just nodded. "Take the rest of the week off, I'll see you Monday morning bright and early."

Since it was now Thursday he didn't feel inclined to argue. "Thanks. See you both Monday." He disappeared into his apartment building and the other men returned to headquarters to wrap up the case.


	20. Uncertain

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Enjoy.**

Chapter Twenty – Uncertain

Colby woke early the following week. It was supposed to be his first day back following Jenny's dramatic rescue. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling of his bedroom. For the first time ever he really didn't want to get out of bed and go to work. He wasn't sure if he could do the job any more. Knowing the uncertainty he felt was not a good thing, it could cost him, or worse, someone else their life. If he wasn't 100% sure that this was what he was supposed to be doing then he had no right to be an FBI Agent. Sighing he pulled himself out of bed, wincing as his wounds pulled slightly with the movement. Going into the kitchen he put on his normal pot of coffee and took a shower. He drunk two cups of coffee before leaving the apartment, putting off going into the office for as long as was reasonable.

The journey to Wiltshire Blvd was uneventful and he made good time, despite his delaying tactics he was still in before the rest of the team. He settled at his desk and quickly completed his report on Gains' arrest and placed it on Don's desk.

When the rest of the team, apart from Liz who had gone back to her own team, arrived Colby wasn't at his desk, they found him sitting in one of the armchairs in the break room, a cup of coffee in his hand staring at the floor. The young agent didn't even look up when they entered the room.

"Hey man." David said as he got himself a glass of water, he turned when his partner didn't respond. "Colby?" He walked over and stood in front of him, and still got no reaction. He glanced over his shoulder at the others, a puzzled look on his face.

"Colby, you OK?" Asked Megan, she had never seen the young man so distracted.

"Huh?" Colby looked up. "Oh, hi, didn't hear you guys come in."  
"Clearly. Is everything alright?" Don was concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good, just a little tired, is all."

"Need more time off?"

"No, no. Just need to get back to it." Colby assured his boss.

"OK, if you're sure." He wasn't entirely convinced, but would keep an eye on him.

"Definitely."

"Alright then, lets get to work." They all followed him back out to the bull pen. Prior to the kidnapping case they had been working on a case involving the sale of drugs at schools, the abduction had taken precedence over this so they would now need to get back to the previous investigation.

"Where are we at?" Asked Don.

"There have now been three deaths that can be linked to this batch of drugs. They're cutting the ecstasy with strychnine, the hospitals are reporting an increase in drug related admissions because of this. The strychnine causes convulsions, those that don't seek medical attention are in trouble as it leads to asphyxia, which leads to their death." Megan supplied.

"Man, that's cold. Selling drugs is bad enough, but cutting it with something so lethal…" David never got used to the things people would do to each other for the sake of money.

"Lieutenant Walker thinks it's a gang from outside LA that is bringing it in, using school kids to sell it to each other. As yet we've been unable to get a good lead on who the ring leader is." Colby added.

"The three deaths were students from the same school. Megan and I will go and speak to the principal. Why don't you two speak to the usual informants and see what you can dig up." Don told Colby and David.

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David got behind the wheel of the car and before driving off turned to his partner and friend. "You know you can talk to me about anything, don't you man?"

"Yeah, I know David. I appreciate it, but I'm OK." Colby tried to assure him, but he was trying to reassure himself as much as his partner.

David started the car and pulled away from the FBI building, he had to accept what Colby was saying, even if, to him, it didn't ring true. He had never seen Colby look so pensive, he was sure something was on his mind, but he would have to wait until the other man was ready to talk to find out what it was.

When they reached their destination they both exited the car and looked around them, ensuring that there was no immediate threat. This area of town had a bad reputation, the police and FBI alike were not welcome. The man they had come here to talk to was not in the immediate vicinity so they started to walk to one of his known hangouts, outside a bar down the street.

"Yo, Jimmy." Called Colby as they neared a young man wearing his trousers hanging down, a football shirt and a baseball cap turned round the wrong way. Seeing the two men that he recognised as FBI the man turned tail and ran.

"Awww crap." Cursed David as he took off after Colby to chase the man. They caught up with him as he ran across a playground, Colby tackled him to the ground and hauled him back to his feet.

"Now, Jimmy, why would you run from friends?"

"You ain't no friend of mine fed." Spat the wriggling Jimmy.

"Ouch, that hurts. David, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I did, Jimmy that is no way to treat us, we've been good to you."

"Good to me? You turn up unannounced at my place of business, that ain't cool."

"Afraid that the urgency of our business meant we were not in a position to make an appointment Jimmy."

"The question is, do you want us to search you, find your stash and arrest you, or are you gonna answer a few questions and be on your way?"

"I ain't got no stash man. I'm clean."

Colby began patting the man down checking for weapons or drugs. "What do you know David, he's telling the truth."

"That has to be a first." Snorted David.

"What do you say we walk him back to his place of business and let everyone see him with us?"  
"Awww, come on, you trying to cramp my style. A man has a reputation to protect."

"Then answer some questions and we'll let you be on your way."

"Alright, what ya wanna know?"

"Someone is selling ecstasy pills cut with strychnine, there have been three deaths. We need a name."

"You trying to get me killed fed?"

"We're trying to stop any more teenagers dying." Retorted David.

Sighing Jimmy decided to tell them what he knew and get away from them as quick as possible. "I heard some talk about someone new selling some E round the clubs. Don't know the dude myself."

"Got a name?"

"Xavier something, didn't catch his second name. There is a guy who might be able to tell you more."

"Tell us who he is and where to find him." Insisted David.

The man hesitated momentarily then provided the two agents with the address of a local tattoo place. "The guy you're looking for goes by the name Leo."

"Thanks Jimmy, see you again." Colby said as he let go his grip on the man's shirt.

"Not too soon eh Granger?" With that the man left in the opposite direction from which they'd come.

As the two men walked back to their car David called Don and told him what they'd found out.

"That's good David, you and Colb get over there, Megan and I are still tied up at the school. Call in SWAT though."

"Will do Don, see you back at the office."

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Standing round the corner from the address provided by Jimmy, David was filling in SWAT. They had agreed that one of them needed to go in first to see what they were dealing with. Reluctantly David had agreed to let Colby do it. He was quickly fitted with a mike so that SWAT and David would be able to hear what was going on.

Entering the tattoo parlour Colby took a deep breath and glanced around at his surroundings. He nodded to a man standing by a counter.

"Looking for a guy called Leo."

"He's over there." The man pointed to a bald man, wearing a sleeveless t-shirt. He was covered in tattoos.

"Can I help you?" The man asked.

"Yeah, am looking to get a set of 3 different tattoos."

"We have 3 guys inside." David informed the SWAT agents.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Regimental designs, I'd like them done in a light grey colour as opposed to black."

"OK, that means at least one person is armed." David translated again. He and Colby had agreed a code for such a circumstance prior to his entering the building, it wasn't the first time they had needed to do this. "Let's do this."

A moment later they ran into the building. "FBI. Hands on your heads."

Leo grabbed Colby before he could even react and had him held in front of him with a gun pointed at his head. This all felt eerily familiar to Colby and as he looked up at David he could see that his partner was thinking the same thing. Knowing that Leo may not have connected the dots yet he drew his head quickly forward and then back driving it into his captor's nose, at the same time he reached up to the arm across his chest, pulled on it and threw the man over his shoulder, caught unawares Leo let go of his weapon as he landed on the ground. David and the SWAT agents dashed forward, cuffing the man and securing his weapon. Not waiting to hear what David had to say Colby walked out of the building.

"Hey man, wait up." Called David, knowing that SWAT would make sure their suspect was secure. "Colby." He shouted, causing the younger man to stop. "What the hell was that?"

"I dunno what you mean." Said Colby defensively, knowing damn well he had dropped the ball.

"Don't, I don't wanna hear that. In the years that I've known you there has only been one other occasion when you've let a suspect get the better of you, and we both know that didn't end too well that time."

"So I'm a little slower than normal, just a little sore from last week is all."

"Agent Sinclair." A voice called from behind the men. Keeping an eye on Colby he turned towards the SWAT agent that was calling to him. "Do you want us to arrange to transport the suspect?"

"No, that's OK, thanks, we've got it." He looked at Colby once more. "We'll talk about this later."

"Nothing to talk about." Colby strode passed him towards the car leaving David to retrieve Leo and secure him in the back of their car.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

They got back to headquarters and David took Leo to the interrogation room. Colby went to his desk in the bull pen and came face to face with Don.

"Everything go OK?" His supervisor asked.

"Yeah, David's taken Leo to interrogation." He took his jacket off.

"Colb, you're bleeding." Megan pointed out.

He looked down to see that his gunshot wound was bleeding, he must have pulled it open as he pulled Leo over his shoulder and threw him to the ground. "It's nothing."

"Go and get one of the medics to patch it up. That's an order." Stated Don as a look of stubbornness passed across Colby's face. "I'll go and interview this guy with David."

Realising it was pointless to argue he went to do as he had been told. He hadn't even realised he'd been bleeding, too busy beating himself up over letting Leo get the drop on him. It wasn't long before the SWAT medic had cleaned the blood from round his wound and put some new strips over it, finally covering it with a fresh bandage. He was given instructions to be more careful until the wound had fully healed. Thanking the medic he went to the locker room to change into a fresh t-shirt. Sitting down on the bench in the locker room he drew in an unsteady breath. He couldn't go on like this. Nobody got hurt this time, but he could have got David or one of the SWAT agents killed with his lack of concentration.

He didn't trust himself anymore so could not expect anyone else to trust him with their lives. What on earth was he going to do? Right now he could see only one option. How would the others react? It didn't matter he needed to protect them and himself. Now he knew what he had to do, he just needed the courage to go through with it. Could he really turn his back on all he had worked so hard for though? His world was unravelling, without the FBI, the team, who he saw as his family he had nothing, but he couldn't live with himself if he got one of them injured or killed. His mind made up he got up and walked out of the locker room.

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"He isn't going to give anything up on his supplier. He's too scared." David said to Megan and Don after interviewing Leo. "He'd much rather go to prison. That tells me this Xavier is bad news."

"We've got him on a concealed weapons charge, but that isn't going to keep him locked up for long. Lets hope that ERT come up with some additional evidence at the tattoo parlour." Said Megan.

"It would be good to at least get this guy off the street even if we're not able to get this Xavier." Don said. Colby chose that moment to reappear. "Hey, how's the arm?"

"All sorted, thanks. Don, could I have a word with you, in private?"

Looking somewhat taken aback Don agreed and the two men headed to one of the nearby offices.

Megan turned to David, a worried look on her face. "Is he alright?"

"No, I don't think so." He had already told Don about the incident in the tattoo parlour and now told Megan. "I have no idea what's going on with him, he won't talk to me."

"Perhaps Don will be able to get out of him what the problem is. You may just be too close to the situation."

"Maybe, but I have a bad feeling about this."

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Don watched as Colby sat down, the man looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He took a seat next to him and turned to face his agent. "What's up Colb?" He watched as the other man removed his gun, badge and FBI ID and placed it on the table next to them, not understanding what was happening.

"I can't do this any more Don. I'm quitting." He couldn't look his supervisor in the eye.

Don's mouth opened but no sound was coming out, this was the last thing he would have expected. He had grown not only to like his youngest team member but respect him. He wasn't sure he had heard right. "Sorry, you're going to have to say that again, I could have sworn you said you were quitting."

"That's right."

"But why? I mean David told me about what happened today, but that's no reason to throw your career away. A promising career at that."

Taking a deep breath Colby tried to explain how he was feeling. "I'm lost Don. I joined the FBI to make a difference, but I just don't feel like I do anymore. I'm a liability, one that the team doesn't need."

"Why don't you let us be the judge of what we need. We don't want to lose you from the team. Whether you think so or not you are a valuable asset. You have earned the respect of everyone you have worked with. Given time you will have your own team, I don't doubt that for a minute."

"I do. I don't deserve to be here. I have repeatedly put others lives at risk over the last 4 months. Each morning I used to wake up excited by the prospect of another day working with all of you, now I wake up petrified that I am going to get one of you injured or killed."

"Tell me what to say to you that will help. Anything I can do to make things easier for you I will."

Colby shook his head sadly. "There is nothing you can say. I've given this a lot of thought. It's time for me to move on, do something else."

"What about all the people that you've saved or helped, all the people you could do the same for in the future?"

Colby lowered his head into his hands, he hated feeling like this, out of control of his feelings. He was used to being strong, he would give anything to get that feeling back. "I can't do it."

"Look, how about we compromise?"

"How?"

"Instead of quitting, how about I see if I can arrange some time off for you? Take a few months off and see how you feel at the end of that time. Give yourself some breathing space. At the end of that time if you still want to quit I will support your decision, even if I disagree with it. Don't do anything right now when you're feeling so emotional."

What Don said was sensible, he knew it, but what if it just put off the inevitable? He didn't want to get his Supervisor's hopes up, then again didn't he owe it to the team to give this some more thought. "OK. You have a deal."

"Right, stay here, let me see what I can organise with the AD." He hurried from the room before Colby could change his mind. He glanced over at where David and Megan were sitting but didn't stop to tell them anything, he needed to get this sorted before he spoke to them.

Thirty minutes later Don returned to the office to find Colby sitting exactly as he had left him. He felt a stab of sympathy for him, he could see the uncertainty of his decision written all over his face. Don was sure that quitting was the wrong one but Colby needed time to see that for himself and he hoped by doing what he had suggested he would come to the same conclusion.

"What did the AD say?"

"He was shocked to hear that you wanted to leave. Under the circumstances he has agreed that you can take 3 months off. It will be unpaid though."

"That's alright, doing this job I don't spend much as I am always working so I have some money saved."

"We have a deal then?"

"Yeah, we do. Thanks Don, you've been great."

"I'm not just your supervisor man, I'm your friend. I wish you had come to me before things got this bad for you, but the main thing is you have now. Shall we tell the others?"

"Do we have to?" Colby pulled a face, it was hard enough telling Don, but how was he going to face the others as well.

"Yeah, we do. I'll help you." He patted Colby's shoulder as he got up to go to the door and beckon the rest of the team in.

"What's going on?" Asked an anxious David.

"Sit down." Don instructed Megan and David. Once they were settled he glanced at Colby who just nodded, giving him the go ahead to tell them whatever he saw fit. "Colby is taking 3 months leave. He wanted to quit but I managed to talk him out of it for the time being and this is the compromise we have come up with. The AD has agreed."

David's mouth opened and closed like a fish, pretty much the same as Don's had when he first heard. Megan was a little bit more eloquent. "Oh Colby. We'll miss you, but will be happy to have you back in 3 months time." She said, ever the optimist, she got up and walked round the table and pulled the man to his feet and into a hug. "You have to promise to stay in touch though." She pulled away and looked him in the eyes and was pleased to see him nod in agreement.

David stood up, not quite sure what to say, so instead of speaking he followed Megan's lead and pulled his partner into a hug. Not very manly but both men were passed caring at that point.

"Be safe brother." Said Colby quietly. He pulled away from David and turned to Don extending his hand. "Thanks."

Another man not normally one for open displays of affection Don pulled him into a hug. "Don't be a stranger." Nodding Colby left the three agents standing in the office, went to grab a few things from his desk and locker then left the building before his resolve weakened, knowing he needed to do this, whatever the outcome.

Don, Megan and David exchanged looks that conveyed all that they were feeling better than words ever could have. "He'll be back." Stated David, more to reassure himself than out of conviction that it was true.

Don turned sadly and picked up Colby's gun, badge and ID. He hoped David was right.


	21. Visitors

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Sammy; Jenny and Jasmine are mine! Hope you like this next chapter.**

Chapter Twenty One – Visitors

The last 3 months for Colby had been great, he was feeling stronger and more settled than he had in a long time. He had spent time with his family, going fishing, camping and generally chilling. The team had seen him a few times when he had met them for lunch. They had slowly seen the physical and mental healing process return their friend to his former self, all of them were hopeful that he would return to the FBI, but he had made no indication of which way he was going to decide. There were only a few days left before he needed to make the decision that would ultimately effect all of their lives, the team had a plan to try to persuade him that there was a lot more good he could still do, it was a bit under handed but they didn't care, they needed to try everything they could to sway him to decide to rejoin them. Don had asked Alan and Charlie to assist, which they were more than happy to do.

"Chuck, is everything ready, I need to go and get our visitors?" Asked Don.

"Yep, it's under control. Dad has got the BBQ going, we'll be ready for you."

"That's great, thanks for your help with this man."

"Hey, no worries bro, it's for Colby, I just hope your plan works."  
"Me too." Don left to go and pick up the guests he had alluded to.

----------------------------------------------------------

Colby pulled up outside the Eppes house. He was strangely nervous, he figured that the team were up to something and this wasn't a normal get together, despite what Don had said when he invited him. With the necessity to make a decision looming ever closer he had still not come to a conclusion, though he had missed the team and the camaraderie, he didn't need to work at the FBI to still see them. Looking forward to seeing the whole team as well as Charlie and Alan as he was, he was still dreading whatever it was they had up their sleeves.

Shaking himself from his reverie he got out of the car and approached the front door, as he lifted his hand up to press the bell the door opened to reveal Alan Eppes.

"Colby! It's good to see you son, come in."

"Hey Alan, how are you?" He shook the older man's hand.

"All the better for seeing you with my own eyes. You're looking well."

"Mom's cooking, only got back last night from visiting her. No offence Alan but her cooking rivals yours."

"None taken, I'd like to meet her some time." The two men walked out to the back garden. The whole gang was there, Megan, David, Liz, Charlie, Amita and Larry. He soon found himself surrounded and being slapped on the back and hugged.

"Give the man some room." Called Alan, he handed Colby a beer and smiled.

"How was Idaho?" Asked Megan.

"Good. Mom was pleased to see me, she was going out of her mind with worry not being able to get here to see me whilst I was recovering, she didn't want to let me outta her sight."

"Hardly surprising. Parents never stop worrying." Alan told Colby. "Why don't you all go and sit down." He suggested.

"Do you need a hand with anything?" Asked Liz.

"No, thank you, go and join the others, it's all under control here." He smiled at her.

Colby looked round, realising that someone was missing. "Where is Don?"

"He had to go by the office." Replied David, not looking at Colby, which made him even more suspicious.

"What is he up to?"

"Nothing man. Why would he be up to anything?"

Still unconvinced but seeing that he wasn't going to get any answers he turned the conversation to talk about what everyone else had been up to, he had been in Idaho for two weeks so had missed out on the goings on over that period.

The whole team had gone to a basketball game held by the community centre where David volunteered when he could, he had been spending some time coaching and they had planned a friendly match with another local team. By all accounts both teams had performed well and there had been only friendly competition. There had been food provided afterwards by Alan and Charlie, much to the delight of the kids. It sounded like everyone had really enjoyed it, Colby was sorry he missed it and promised to help David with the next one. No matter what he decided about his career he was going to stay in LA.

David was getting restless and challenged Colby to a game of one on one in the Eppes backyard. Never one to turn down a challenge he agreed. Before long the two men had the rest laughing at their antics as they ended up wrestling for the ball. A voice stopped them in the middle of a particularly energetic tussle which had led to them both rolling on the ground.

"What on earth are you up to?" Asked Don. Looking up Colby smiled, got to his feet, helping David up before approaching his boss. Don pulled the younger man into a brief half hug. "After lunch I'll show you how to play properly."

"Oh, that sounds like a challenge."

"You better believe it." Responded Don playfully, he followed Colby to where everyone had been sitting before the impromptu basketball game and wrestling match. "Sorry I'm late everyone."

"David said you had to go by the office, everything OK?"

"Yeah, everything is fine Colb. I needed to pick something, or perhaps I should say someone, up." He turned nodding to his Dad who entered the house and returned holding a little girl's hand.

Colby's mouth dropped open and he turned to look at everyone else, nobody else was surprised so he gathered that this had been what they had been planning. The little girl dropped Alan's hand and ran to Colby reaching up and throwing her arms round his waist. He looked from Jenny Knowles to the others, still not understanding what was going on, her mother was standing just behind Alan, her eyes filled with tears. She approached Colby and stood before him, resting her hand on the top of her daughter's head.

"I never got a chance to thank you for what you did. I went to the FBI offices but was told that you had taken an extended leave, Agent Eppes, Don, promised that he would arrange for me to meet with you." Sammy Knowles stood on tiptoe and leaned over to plant a kiss on the man's cheek, causing him to blush furiously. Looking around again he could see that the team had suddenly become very interested in helping Alan with the BBQ.

"It was my job Ms Knowles."

"Please, call me Sammy. I know it was your job, Agent Granger, but you put yourself between a mad man with a knife and my daughter, neither of us will ever forget that. I'm betting that the people you help don't often seek you out to say thank you, I didn't want to be one of those."

"It's Colby, I'm not Agent Granger any more."

"Don told me that you were thinking of leaving. I was saddened to hear that, the FBI needs more people like you, not less. Your whole team amaze me, I've spoken to them several times over the last few months, they are very protective of you and wouldn't allow me to meet with you until they felt you were ready to face that part of your life again."

Colby looked down at the little girl who was still clinging to him, squatting down so his face was level with hers he smiled at her. "Hey Jenny. How are you?" He asked her softly.

"I'm fine thank you Agent Granger."

"I want you to call me Colby, can you do that?"

The little girl nodded and without prompting she gave Colby a kiss and put her arms round his neck and gave him a hug. "Thank you for helping me, Colby."

"You are more than welcome sweetie. I'm glad that you're OK." He said returning her hug. Releasing her he stood up, she promptly grabbed his hand, he smiled down at her.

"Jenny, why don't you go and see if Don can get you some juice, I need to speak to Colby for a minute." Looking from her Mom and back to Colby she let go of his hand and ran off to see Don as instructed.

Sammy walked further away from the rest of the group and stood by the koi pond, Colby followed her, curious about what she had to say.

"I realise that I don't know you at all, I hope you don't mind, but your team have told me something about your background." She turned until she was facing him. "I feel it only fair that you should know a bit more about Jenny and I. Ian was a good man, he really was, but when I fell pregnant my parents put pressure on him to get a better job so I could give up my work. It wasn't something I wanted to do, I love being a paediatrician, that didn't matter though, my parents had planted a seed of doubt in his mind and he couldn't stand the thought that he wasn't good enough for me. He allowed others opinions of him to drive a wedge between us, I loved him with all my heart but it wasn't enough to save our relationship and he left. I would have happily let him see Jenny, but he sunk into a depression and never turned up when we arranged for him to visit, eventually I couldn't let it go on, every time he said he'd come over and didn't she would sit at the window until bed time watching for him. I told him he either needed to step up or back off. He chose the latter." Colby could see the sadness in her eyes, clearly she had hoped that he would step up. "I had no idea he knew where we were as we moved several months after he stopped calling or coming round. I understand that he has made a deal with the ADA and is going to get some help, for that I'm glad. Most of all I am glad that you were there to save my little girl from living her life without her mother."

"I'm glad that I was there too. She is a lovely little girl."

"She's my world. Yes, I work, but I always make sure I am home to tuck her in and there when she gets up in the morning."  
"I don't mean to appear rude, but why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I am wondering if you have thought about what you will do if you leave the FBI, thanks to you I have the opportunity to tuck my daughter in hopefully for many years to come. It's none of my business, but perhaps because you don't know me I feel like I can say the things to you that your friends can't, think long and hard before giving up on that part of your life. Finding a vocation, and that is what this seems to be for you, is not easy. Sticking with it is even harder."

"Well since I don't know you, perhaps I can tell you what I can't tell my friends." Sammy nodded encouragingly. "I don't know if I'm strong enough."

"Bullshit. Pardon the language, but from what everyone has told me and just spending this short time with you, I can tell that you have all you need to make you strong enough. You don't have to do it on your own, look around you now. Tell me what you see."

"Friends, but not just friends, they're my family too."

"Exactly. I bet not one of them hasn't doubted themselves at some point. Think about what you'd tell them, and then tell yourself the same thing."

He looked at her, she had certainly given him a lot to think about. She was easy to talk to, perhaps because she was coming from a different angle, an outsider looking in. "Thank you for the talk, I promise I'll give what you've said a lot of thought."

"Make sure you do. Now shall we go and rescue your friends from Jenny's incessant chatter?"

Colby looked up to see a perplexed Don sitting with Jenny. He wasn't sure what the little girl was talking about, but it was clear that Don could do with a hand. Chuckling he offered his arm to Sammy and they walked back to the rest of the group. Jenny saw her Mom and Colby, stopped mid sentence to abandon Don and run to Colby. Bending down he picked her up. "What were you talking to Don about? He looks confused."

"I was telling him about my horse and how I take care of her." She stated.

"Ah, well you see Don doesn't know one end of a horse from the other. He's a city boy."

"Oh what, and you do Granger?" Don sneered.

"Yup, grew up round horses. I could ride almost before I could walk." He laughed as Don rolled his eyes. "Why don't you come and sit with me and tell me all about her." Jenny nodded enthusiastically. Riding had become her latest fad.

Sammy and Don exchanged looks and she winked at him to let him know that she had talked to Colby. She just hoped she had gotten through to him the way Don hoped she would.

Alan called out that the food was ready and the next hour was spent eating and laughing. Jenny was permanently attached to Colby's side, much to her mother's amusement. The little girl had taken to the group of FBI agents and their friends quicker than she had taken to any other stranger previously, the same could be said for them, they thought Jenny was adorable.

Some time after they had helped Alan clear the remnants of the meal away Don turned to Colby. "How about that game now?"

"I dunno, wouldn't want to show you up."

Don laughed. "Bring it on."

The two men got up and retrieved the ball from where it had been left earlier, as they started to play Jenny decided she wanted to join in, almost tripping Colby up and allowing Don to score. "Losing your touch Granger!"

"I was robbed." Howled Colby, leaning over he spoke to Jenny. "Want to help me win this game?" She nodded eagerly, he picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. Don threw the ball to him and he passed it to her and allowed her to throw it at the basket, the ball hit the back board and landed back at Don's feet, he smiled and threw the ball to Colby again, who then dribbled it closer to the basket, passed her the ball once more and this time he lifted her so she could just drop the ball in. The others watched in amusement and before long they all joined in.

Half way through the game Jenny pulled on Colby's sleeve and said she needed to go to the bathroom. Sammy offered to take her but Colby said he would show Jenny where to go. Taking the little girl's hand he led her inside. The rest of the group exchanged glances but carried on with their game.

When Jenny had finished they walked back through the sitting room to go back outside, before they reached the doors she turned to Colby. "Don't you like your friends any more?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Mom says you're leaving the police."

Sighing Colby sat down and pulled the little girl on to his lap, how to explain something so complex to an 8 year old. "That's not it at all. I love working with them."

"Then I don't get it."

"I'm not sure I can explain it."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Will you be my friend?"

"Jenny, I would be honoured and privileged to be your friend."

"What's that mean?"

"Oh, erm, means that it would be great to be your friend."

"Cool." She looked thoughtful for a moment then said, in the way only a child can. "I don't think you should leave."

Leaning back he looked at her. "No? Why?"

"Your friends need you."

"I think they'd do just find without me."

"They didn't save me, you did."

"No Jenny, the team did."  
"Aren't you part of the team then?"

Damn this girl was smart, there was no wriggling out of this conversation, he didn't know many 8 year olds, but it seemed to him she was speaking in a way well beyond her tender years.

"Yes, I am, or at least I was. I haven't made up my mind what I'm going to do yet."

"We should sit here quietly so that you can think about it some then." That said she folded her arms and settled herself more comfortably in his lap.

Colby looked down at the determined little girl, she was clearly not going to move so he just sat quietly waiting for her to get bored. 20 minutes later she hadn't moved a muscle, looking down at her again he saw that she had fallen asleep. Shaking his head in amazement at how quickly a child could go from interrogating him to sleep he smiled to himself.

Outside Sammy was wondering where they had got to, so she excused herself and walked into the house. She smiled at the sight of her daughter curled up on the lap of the FBI agent.

"Oh my, she got you good didn't she?" She laughed.

"You didn't tell me she was devious." Chuckled Colby quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping child.

"I didn't know she was! Always thought she was smart though."

"That she is. She is a real credit to you Sammy."

"Thank you." Sammy replied blushing slightly. "I think perhaps I should get her home."

"I'll carry her out to the car for you."

"OK, thanks. Let me just pop out and say bye to everyone."

Colby walked to the door leading to the backyard and watched as Sammy gave each of his team a hug goodbye. "I want to say goodbye too." Piped up a sleepy eyed Jenny.

"Faker." Laughed Colby walking outside still carrying her.

Everyone walked round to where the cars were parked, Sammy had followed Don to the house in her car. Colby lowered Jenny into the back seat and strapped her in. She looked at him with her big blue eyes and innocently asked. "Are you going to stay in your job?"

All around him the team held their breath as Colby looked at her thoughtfully, at first they didn't think he was going to answer her.

"How much did they offer you to ask that question?" He laughed, looking suspiciously at the rest of the team. "Never mind." He said as a look of confusion crossed her face. "What do you think I should do?" Asked Colby, wanting to make the team wait for his answer a little bit longer.  
"I think you should stay. They need you." She indicated the group who were trying, and failing, to fade into the background.

"You know what sweetie, I think you're right. I'm gonna stick around." He winked at her and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Sammy was standing right next to him as he said it and when he turned to her was enveloped in a hug. "Thanks for the pep talk, even if you were put up to it." He whispered in her ear.

"Anytime. I mean it Colby, you're welcome to call on us whenever, just phone first." She handed him her card. Jenny watched the exchange smiling as he took the card which she knew had her Mom's numbers on it.

The team contained themselves long enough to wave the pair off before turning to Colby. "Did you say what I think I heard you say?" Asked David.

"Depends on what you thought you heard me say." Teased Colby.

"Coulda sworn that you said you were coming back Granger." Smiled Liz.

"I need to meet with the AD to make it official, but yes, my decision is to stick with you lot."

"Best news I've heard in a long time." Stated Megan.

There was a further flurry of back slapping and hugs from the group who were much relieved to hear the news they'd been hoping for.

"Don, that was sneaky." Said Colby.

"What?" Asked Don the picture of innocence.

"Using an 8 year old and her Mom to do your dirty work for ya."

"Well you weren't going to listen to me, so I bought in someone that would speak to you on your own level."

"I take it you mean Sammy." Said David.

"Nope, Jenny." Laughed Don and ran off into the backyard as Colby growled and chased him.

Alan merely shook his head as the others followed in hot pursuit whilst he followed at a more sedate pace with Larry. They had to laugh though as they walked round the corner to find David, Don and Colby wrestling like big kids whilst Megan and Liz turned the hose on them, Charlie and Amita knew better than to get involved and were busy laughing at the sidelines.

Alan turned to Larry. "Looks like the kids are back together again."

"Yes Alan, it does, and all is right with the cosmos once more."


	22. Watched

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters.**

**A/N: I have taken extreme liberties with the law in this chapter, for this I apologise, I hope you can forgive me!**

Chapter Twenty Two – Watched

A month after Colby's return to the unit they still hadn't caught up with the supplier who was distributing the ecstasy cut with strychnine. The only thing they knew about him was his name, Xavier. It hadn't been for lack of trying, each team member had spoken to every contact they could find, Liz had rejoined the team on a permanent basis due to the work load the team received.

"This guy is the invisible man." Sighed Colby.

"Yeah and he's beginning to piss me off. There have been a total of 7 deaths now and at least 20 kids hospitalised and that's just the ones that we know about." Stated David.

"We've shut down 3 different dealers and not one of them will give us anything on him. He must have some considerable hold over them." Responded Megan.

"Going to have to go back out on the streets guys, no other choice." Don told his team.

"Right, back to square one again." Liz rolled her eyes.

"David and Colby why don't you guys head out now and see if you can turn over the rock that this guy is hiding under. Megan and Liz I want you to revisit the schools, maybe one of the kids will talk to us. I know it's a long shot, but it's better than sitting here doing nothing. I'm going to talk to Charlie."

Glad to be doing something, anything, to move this case forward they went their separate ways.

"Where do you want to start?" Asked David.

"Shall we see if we can get anything out of Jimmy again?"

"Worth a try, gotta start somewhere." David pulled out of the FBI lot and headed towards the neighbourhood where Jimmy would normally hang out. When they arrived no sooner did they pull up than the back door of their car was yanked open and Jimmy got in. "Let's get outta here."

Raising a questioning eyebrow at Colby and getting only a shrug in response he pulled away driving to another neighbourhood and pulling up in a disused parking lot.

"What's going on Jimmy?" Asked Colby.

"Man, this is the last time I'm gonna talk to you. Everyone is getting very nervous about you boys coming round."

"Why?" Queried David.

"This Xavier dude is making it clear that anyone talking to law enforcement will have a shortened life span. As much as I value our mutual relationship I value my life more."

"OK, spill what you know."

"Rumour has it this Xavier guy was once involved with someone you arrested a few months ago."  
"Go on." Said Colby with a sinking feeling.

"Jason Rutherford."

David glanced quickly at his partner and watched his jaw clench. "How were they involved?"

"Xavier worked for Rutherford. Some say that Xavier was obsessed with Rutherford's wife and because of that he was kicked out of the organisation, such as it was. Nobody messed with Rutherford, but now he's behind bars, his territory is fair game."

"Anything else you can tell us?"

"No man, that's it. I'm outta here, don't come looking for me again." Jimmy exited the car quickly and hurried off.

David took a deep breath before speaking. "We're going to need to interview Rutherford. I think you should sit this one out brother."

Shaking his head Colby responded, his voice cold as steel. "No, this time I want to be there when he is interviewed. I want to hear what he has to say first hand."

David was not convinced of the wisdom behind this decision, but Don could handle that side of things. They would have to go back to headquarters and arrange access to the prisoner first anyway.

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Don listened carefully as David filled him in on what Jimmy had told them. Colby remained silent, searching the database for more information on Rutherford's former associate. He found that Xavier's last name was Heller, he had a rap sheet filled with petty crimes, nothing anywhere near the scale of what he was supposed to be the mastermind of now. When David had finished telling Don about the possible connection with Rutherford he understood Colby's stoic silence but he needed his team, all of them, to be 100% focused on this case.

"Colby?"

"Yeah Don."

"Look at me."

Turning round Colby's green eyes locked with Don's brown ones.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

Knowing immediately what his boss was referring to he replied. "I understand that but I need to be there. I want to hear what he has to say for myself this time."

"If I let you do this, it's against my better judgement. You can't let me down and lose it with him."

"Understood."

"I'm going with you as well." Don trusted Colby but he was concerned about the affect this may have on him. For the month that he had been back Colby had been back to his former self. Stubborn, strong, unerring in his loyalty and Don was not going to let Rutherford knock the man off balance again.

David got off the phone and advised Don that a visit with Rutherford had been authorised and they could go to the State Prison when ever they were ready. Don nodded and rang Megan to let her know what was happening, he then led Colby and David back to the parking lot where they climbed into his SUV. The drive to the prison was a tense one, on arrival they handed over their guns and were escorted inside to where Rutherford was waiting for them in handcuffs.

"Well this is a surprise, didn't expect to see you again Agent Granger."

Colby didn't respond, merely placed himself in one corner of the room allowing Don and David to take the seats opposite the prisoner.

"To what do I owe this visit?" He asked.

"Need to ask you about a guy called Xavier Heller."

"What about him?"

"We hear that he used to work with you."

"For me, he worked for me. We parted company when he started following Jasmine about." Rutherford watched Colby for a reaction, he was disappointed the agent showed no outward signs of what was going through his mind. "Why are you asking me about him?"

"We're told that he could be supplying ecstasy cut with strychnine to a number of dealers in LA. The drugs are finding their way into the hands of teenagers."

"Doesn't sound like the Xavier I knew, he was purely small time, he's more likely to be someone's puppet."

"Any idea whose?"

"None." Wanting to torment Colby he asked. "Heard anything from Jasmine recently?"

To Colby's credit he did nothing more than glare daggers at the man and walk from the room, waiting for his colleagues to finish their interview and join him.

"Hmmm take it that's a no then. Shame was wondering how she is doing." Mused Rutherford.

"Lets keep to the topic at hand shall we." Remarked Don.

"Nothing more to say. Don't know anything about what Xavier has been up to, haven't had any dealings with him in about 6 months."

"Hadn't you and Jasmine already split up by then? Why would you be bothered that he was following her round?"

"Lets just say she didn't like his particular brand of attention and he started it before we had parted ways. She's always been kind of picky who she associates with, that is until she started seeing your Agent Granger."

"He is worth 10 of you or your kind." David snarled.

Don put a restraining hand on David's arm. "We're done." He got up, made sure David was ahead of him and they left the room.

Colby was waiting by the car for them. "Get any more out of him?"

"Nope, unsurprisingly. Lets get back to the office and see if we can dig up any more on Heller."

The three men climbed back into the SUV, none of them noticed a figure watching them from across the car park.

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Megan and Liz were waiting for them when they returned to the bull pen. Glancing at Don he nodded indicating that everything was OK.

"How did it go at the schools?"

"The kids won't talk, I think they're too afraid."  
"Of what though? The principals or the dealers working for Xavier."

"My guess is both, but more of Xavier's dealers." Replied Liz.

Just then Colby's cell rang. "Granger." He got up and walked away from the team to complete the call, causing them to raise their eyebrows.

"What was that about?" Asked Don when he returned to his desk.

"It was Sammy Knowles. She thought we might want to know they just had an 8 year old from Jenny's class admitted with strychnine poisoning."  
"Shit. You and David get over to the hospital and find out what happened." Don ordered.

Both men grabbed their jackets and rushed back out the door.

When they reached the hospital they hurried to the children's ward and asked a nurse where Sammy was, they were told she was with a patient but she would let her know they were waiting to see her.

A short time later a harassed looking Sammy appeared.

"Hey guys, sorry about keeping you waiting."

"Not a problem, what can you tell us about what happened?"

"The parents have given me permission to tell you all they know. Their 8 year old daughter was in their teenage son's room and found what she thought was a sweet, the next thing the parents know she's on the floor convulsing. They found these next to her which is how we knew what she'd taken." She handed Colby a bag containing several white pills with an 'X' stamped on them.

"How is she?" He asked softly.

"In a critical condition. We don't know if she'll make it."

"We're going to need to speak with the parents and their son."

Nodding she led them to her office and told them to take a seat whilst she went to get the parents. Both men stood as a man entered the office pushing a teenage boy in front of him. Introductions were made quickly.

"We'll be as quick as we can, we understand that you will want to get back to your daughter."

"Thank you. Craig will be happy to tell you anything you need to know."

The teenager sat in front of them, his head hanging down. Colby spoke to him in a soft voice. "Craig, I know that you didn't mean for this to happen to your sister, but you need to tell us where you got the ecstasy. You're going to be charged with possession, but if you help us voluntarily then we can recommend probation, assuming this is your first offence."

"Oh god, it is, I'd never touch the stuff, it's just this girl at school had the pills and asked me to look after them for her, she heard that the principal was going to search her locker and she had already been in trouble with the police for possession on a previous occasion."  
"Craig, how could you be so naïve?" Demanded his father.

"I'm sorry Dad." The young man sobbed. "I wanted so desperately to fit in, I never thought Carrie would find them. She never goes in my room. If I could take it back I would."

Colby leant forward forcing the distraught young man to look at him. "We need a name Craig."

"Melinda Cooper."

"Good lad. Now go back with your Dad and be with your sister." Turning to his father. "LAPD will be here soon, they'll need to take Craig in to take a formal statement for the possession." The man's eyes were full of sorrow, suddenly his family had been thrown into turmoil. "I'm sorry for what has happened to your family Sir, I promise you we will find the people selling this and take them and the drug off the streets."

As the father looked into the earnest eyes of the FBI Agent he didn't doubt that he would do everything in his power to keep his word, he nodded and put his arm round his son's shoulders and led him back to his sister's bedside.

As they left the office Sammy approached them. "I don't know how Jenny will take this, Carrie is her friend." She sighed.

Colby rested his hand on her shoulder. "How about I pop by later and see her?"

"She'd love that, she has been asking when she was going to see you again."

"Alright, I'll swing by after work, I don't know what time that will be yet, so I will call before coming round."

"Thanks Colby. Bye for now, David, good to see you again."  
"You too Sammy, take care." The men left the hospital and called Don, he in turn instructed Liz and Megan to go to the school to track down Melinda Cooper.

By the time David and Colby made it back to the office the two women had called to say they had located the young woman and were bringing her in to be questioned, as she was under 18 and therefore legally a minor Megan had called her parents and they were on their way to meet them.

Megan came out of the interrogation room and sighed. That was one rebellious teenager. Her parents were at their wits end from what she could tell. It seemed to Megan that Melinda didn't appreciate that despite her mistakes her parents were standing by her. The girl was refusing to cooperate, knowing that they could not prove that she had given the drugs to Craig. Unfortunately for Melinda her parents had decided to practice tough love and had given permission for their home to be searched. Megan could tell from the way the colour drained from her face that they were going to find something, sadly she hadn't been wrong. ERT found more of the ecstasy, about $2000 worth, clearly more than just for personal use. Even taking into consideration that she was a minor she would still be going to prison for at least 5 years. She was also refusing to help them bring down Xavier, sometimes she hated her job.

"Why don't we all call it a night? There is nothing more we can do for the time being." Suggested Don. The team were desperately tired from days of tracking down informants and from getting nowhere, an earlier finish would hopefully see them in a more positive frame of mind, or at least Don hoped so. Everyone nodded their agreement and picked up their jackets and left.

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Colby pulled up outside Sammy's house and before he'd even closed his car door Jenny was running down the path towards him. He bent down and caught her in his arms and gave her hug.

"Hey sweetie, how ya doing?"

"I'm OK. Are you coming in?"

"You bet, let me lock the car." That done the little girl grabbed his hand and practically dragged him into the house.

He and Sammy exchanged greetings. "I've had a call from work, they tell me Carrie, though still poorly, is going to be fine."

"That's fantastic news. Just what I needed to hear after the day I've had."

"Bad huh?" She handed him a beer.

"Yeah, but lets not talk about it." He turned to Jenny. "So how about you show me a picture of this horse of yours?"

Jenny looked at her Mom who gave a slight nod, she then grabbed Colby's hand and dragged him to her room where he was shown every single photo she could find. He was then introduced to all her cuddly toys and dolls. After an hour Sammy stuck her head round the door, amused to see Colby and her daughter sitting on the bedroom floor surrounded by various toys.

"Jenny, it's bedtime."

"Awww Mom, do I have to, it's Saturday tomorrow so I don't have to get up for school."

"Yes, it's past your bedtime, I'm off tomorrow so we're going to spend the day together."

"Cool. If I get ready now can Colby read me a story?"

Sammy looked questioningly at Colby. "Yeah, I can do that, if you do as your Mom says." Jenny didn't need any more prompting and quickly went to the bathroom to clean her teeth and change into her PJs.

"Wow, she doesn't normally cave that easily."

"Must be my winning charm."

Sammy just laughed and shook her head, she left them to it and only returned when she realised that all had gone quiet. Entering her daughter's bedroom she found that Jenny had fallen asleep on Colby's lap whilst he was reading to her.

"You should have just moved her." She whispered.

"Didn't want to wake her." He whispered back.

Sammy walked over and helped him gently manoeuvre the sleeping girl into her bed, Colby kissed Jenny's forehead and stepped away allowing Sammy to tuck her in, turning out the light they looked at the sleeping child and smiled.

"Thanks for coming over, I think it really helped."  
"Pleasure is all mine, she's a great kid."

They both went downstairs and talked for a little longer before Colby had to leave. Sammy showed him to the door, kissed him on the cheek and stood to wave as he drove off.

Sitting in a car across the street a figure watched the exchange between them before driving off.

------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning dawned wet and somewhat cold for LA, a day that befitted how Don and his team felt about their current case. Little did they know that before the day was out the weather would come to be a much greater concern for them.

"How was Sammy and Jenny?" Asked David

"OK, Jenny was understandably upset about her friend, but by the time I left she was in bed and fast asleep. Sammy told me that Carrie is going to be OK."  
"That's the best news I've had since you said you were coming back." Stated Megan.

"I just wish we could get this stuff off the street and prevent anyone else being hurt." Liz added.

"I'm with you on that one." Agreed Don.

Colby's cell started ringing, he glanced at Don who nodded indicating it was OK to answer it. For some unknown reason Colby's cell always chose to go off at the most inconvenient moments.

"Granger. Hi Sammy… What? How long for? Have you called LAPD? Can you see them? Gimme five and I'll call you back." His voice was tinged with concern.

"What's up?" Asked Don.

"Sammy says there is someone sitting outside watching her house, she can't see how many people are in the car. Apparently they've been there for a couple of hours. LAPD have said they'll send a car by but there are no units available at the moment."

"It's probably nothing." Megan tried to reassure her young friend.

"Maybe, but things like this make me a little nervous these days."

"Understandable man. I want to drop by Charlie's anyway, why don't we all take a spin out there and check it out? If it turns out to be nothing Megan and I can carry on to Charlie's, you three can head back out and ask around some more."

"Thanks man, I'd appreciate it."

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When they arrived at Sammy's there was no sign of anyone. They all got out and the others walked in different directions to see if there was anything suspicious further down the road. Colby knocked on the door to the house. A pale Sammy opened it. "I'm so sorry, they've gone."  
"How long ago?"

"About 5 minutes."

"Don't worry. Better to be safe than sorry. I'll be right back." He walked away to speak to Don. "Who ever it was left a few minutes ago."

"OK, how about we take the cars and park them a couple of streets away and then wait around here for a little bit to see if they return."

Colby sighed with relief, he thought his boss would dismiss the incident. "That would be good."

"You, David and Liz head into the house, Megan and I will move the cars and then come back to join you."

Heading back to the house, Sammy greeted David and Liz warmly. They followed her into the kitchen where Jenny was sitting at the table colouring, they sat down with her. The little girl didn't question their presence, she was just happy to see them all again. Sammy offered them something to drink, as she went to make it she glanced out the kitchen window which overlooked the street.

"Colby." She said urgently.

Getting up he joined her at the window and she pointed at the car parked once more just down from the house. The windows of the car were tinted so he was unable to make out who was behind the wheel. Turning to Liz he said "You stay here with Sammy and Jenny." Nodding his head at David both men left the house via the back door so they could approach the car and not be seen. Colby came round the side of the house towards the front of the car and David came from the other side to the back of the car. When they were both ready they hurried towards it with their guns drawn. "FBI, step slowly out of the vehicle with your hands raised."

The men knew each other well and didn't need words to accomplish their goal of getting the person behind the wheel out where they could be seen.

Slowly the door opened and a pair of hands appeared, followed slowly by the rest of the person. A female voice called out. "Don't shoot, I'm unarmed and alone."

At the sound of her voice Colby's blood froze and he hurried closer. "Jasmine, what the hell do you think you're doing?" He demanded. David realising that things were about to become heated stepped forward, stood next to his partner and rested a hand on his arm in a calming gesture. Colby acknowledged David's concern by nodding his head slightly. Taking a deep breath he was about to ask her again, as he had got no response when the sound of a bullet striking the ground a few feet behind him stopped him in his tracks. He pushed Jasmine back into the car as David ducked behind the door for cover, Colby wasn't quite quick enough and felt a sharp hot pain in the back of his right leg as a bullet struck him, knocking him to the ground.


	23. Xavier

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or any of the characters. Jasmine; Sammy; Jenny and Xavier are mine.**

**A/N: A warning for those who are fed up with Colby whumping! There is more. Why? Because I find it strangely therapeutic after a hard day at work! lol**

Chapter Twenty Three – Xavier

"Colby!" Cried David, he was briefly relieved to see his partner move until another shot was fired narrowly missing his prone form. Knowing that the next shot might actually hit its mark David dashed out from behind the door, grabbed Colby and practically threw him to where he would be somewhat shielded. The shots stopped as suddenly as they had started. Colby glanced into the car to see Jasmine squashed into the foot well on the passenger side, seemingly uninjured.

"Where the hell did the shots come from?" Queried David as he inspected Colby's leg.

"Over in that direction, behind the tree." Colby responded through gritted teeth as his partner took off his jacket and pressed it onto the wound in his leg.

"We need to get you outta here."

"As much as I'd like that, if you stick your head round this door your likely to be shot as well."  
"I'm willing to risk that if it means getting you out."  
"Well I'm not." Growled Colby. "Anyway, here comes the cavalry." He nodded down the road where Don and Megan were cautiously approaching, guns drawn, having clearly heard the sound of gunfire. David pulled out his cell using the radio to contact them, he let them know that Colby was down and where he thought the shots had come from.

"Stay put, we'll check it out." With that the other two agents dashed across the road and disappeared behind the row of houses opposite Sammy's.

"Colby, David? Are you guys OK?" Liz shouted from the doorway of the house, worry tingeing her voice.

David knelt up far enough to see through the tinted windows of the car. "Colby's hit but he's OK, stay in the house with Sammy and Jenny." He called back, he was gratified to see the other agent disappear from view. Knowing Liz as he did he was confident that she had found somewhere safe for them to wait this out.

After a few minutes a call came through on David's radio. "Eppes for Sinclair."

"Go ahead Don."

"We're all clear here, the shooter has gone. Back up and medics are on their way."

"Copy that." He sighed with relief, he turned to Colby who was looking a little pale and had his eyes shut. "You still with me bud?"

"Yeah, I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm going to secure Jasmine and let Liz know the coast is clear."

"Tell her to stay inside with Sammy and Jenny, just in case."

"Don't worry, I know how to do my job, you just keep that jacket pressed on your leg." David rolled his eyes at Colby's bossiness.

Leaving Colby sitting on the ground he went round to the passenger side of the car and pulled Jasmine up on to the seat, putting one cuff round her wrist and the other round the steering wheel. He didn't even bother to look at her, she had caused his friend so much pain he wasn't inclined to be polite. He hurried into the house, when he came back to the car he had Sammy in tow, much to Colby's disgust.

"I thought I said to keep her inside." He grumbled.

"It's not David's fault, it's mine. He told me you were injured and even though I am a paediatrician I can help, now stop bitching and let me have a look."

David grinned at his partner's look of discomfort. "You tell him." He said, earning himself a filthy look from Colby.

Sammy knelt down next to him and took away the jacket. "Oh, that's not good. The bullet has embedded deep into your leg, you're going to need surgery to remove it. It's bleeding quite heavily too." She wrapped the jacket back round his leg. "I'm going to get some bandages from the house."

"Can I please get up off the ground at least, my butt is getting wet and it's not particularly comfortable." It hadn't long stopped raining when they first arrived and the ground was still damp.

"Let me get this straight, I've just told you that you need surgery and you're more concerned about getting a damp ass?"

"Yup."

She shook her head and called David over from where he was talking with Don and Megan. "Can you help me to get him sitting on the edge of the car seat? He's moaning about a wet backside." She rolled her eyes. David gave her a sympathetic smile, followed by a 'what can you do' shrug then lent down and assisted his partner up from the ground to rest on the edge of the seat. "Better?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks man." They watched as Sammy hurried back into the house to get the bandages she had mentioned.

"Where is that ambulance. Should be here by now." Grumbled David, he turned as he heard sirens approaching, but it was the back up they'd requested, they parked up behind the car Jasmine had been driving so that the road would be clear for other traffic. Several agents piled out of the cars, one of them turned towards Don and David heard him apologise for the delayed response, apparently there had been an accident on one of the freeways and traffic was jammed. At least David had an explanation as to why the ambulance was delayed.

Sammy came back out and gently removed the jacket from round the wound, she put a pad over it and then secured it with a bandage. "There that should hold you over until the ambulance arrives."

David had walked over to speak to one of the agents who had just arrived, the man looked back towards the car and nodded then carried on down the road with the other agents, including Don and Megan to where the shots had been fired from. David turned back to Jasmine and uncuffed her from the steering wheel then secured her hands behind her back with them, he then started to walk her towards one of the recently arrived cars to secure her in the back. He had enough on his plate without having to worry about what she might be up to. If he hadn't been worrying about the delay in his partner getting treatment he may have noticed the car coming down the road towards him.

Luckily for David his partner was a bit more attentive and spotted the car heading in David and Jasmine's direction, he pulled himself from his sitting position and despite the pain shooting through his injured leg ran towards them, he didn't have time to call out, he pushed them out of the way but wasn't fast enough to get out of the way himself and was thrown up onto the hood of the vehicle, slamming into the windscreen which cracked with the impact. Sammy screamed as he landed on the road with a sickening thud, before she could hurry towards him a man got out of the car wielding a gun, torn between helping Colby and self preservation she froze and watched in horror as the man grabbed the lifeless agent and hauled him up effortlessly and threw him in the back of the car. She could hear voices behind her and the sound of running feet. The man then turned his attention to Jasmine and David, he saw that the FBI agent was no threat as when he was pushed out of the way he was unprepared and had caught his head on the kerb, knocking him out, the man grabbed Jasmine and pulled her towards the car flinging open the door and shoving her unceremoniously in. Sammy felt someone grab her and push her into the shelter of the car, she heard shots being fired and a car pealing away.

"Megan, check on David. You," Don pointed to one of the agents who hadn't long ago arrived on the scene. "Lets go." They ran to the car and took off down the road after Colby and his captor.

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David sat on the kerb, his head in his hands, he couldn't believe he had been laying unconscious whilst his injured partner was being taken. Paramedics had checked him over, they had wanted to take him to the hospital but he had refused, no amount of cajoling by Sammy and Megan would make him change his mind so they cleaned up the cut on his forehead and he signed the waiver they stuck under his nose. He was also angry that Colby had still been at the scene, if the ambulance response time had been quicker his partner would have been on his way to hospital. He knew it wasn't the paramedics fault, but he had to be angry at someone. He looked up at the sound of a car pulling up and saw Don, he pushed himself up and hurried to meet him.

"Are you OK?" Don asked.

"Fine. What happened?"

"We lost them in traffic."  
"Shit."

"Yeah, I know. There's an APB out on the vehicle, but who ever that guy was I have no doubt he'll have dumped it quite quickly considering he has an FBI Agent hostage."

"Have you got a picture of that Xavier you were looking for?" Asked Sammy timidly. She had been inside with Jenny when she saw Don pull up and she wanted to find out what was happening.

"Yeah, why?"

"I got a good look at the guy before Megan shoved me in the car, I just have a feeling it may have been him from what little Colby told me."

"Can't hurt to have a look. I'll go and get the file, why don't you go back into the house and I'll come find you." Don suggested kindly. The woman looked extremely pale, it's not every day that there is an OK Corral kind of shoot out in front of your house after all.

Sammy turned to go in, as soon as she stepped over the threshold Jenny threw herself into her arms sobbing. "Where's Colby?"

"I don't know honey. Don and the others are looking for him, they'll find him." She reassured her 8 year old daughter. She didn't want to tell her daughter the truth, that the man was likely seriously injured and had little time to get help, besides this team were so close they would leave no stone unturned until they found their missing member.

"Sammy?" Megan spoke softly behind her. "Why don't I take Jenny whilst you talk to Don and David."

Sammy nodded and spoke to Jenny. "I need to help Don, will you go with Megan and Liz for me?"

"Will it help find Colby?"

"Yes."

"OK then." The little girl went off with Megan to find Liz.

Sammy, David and Don congregated in the dining room. Don produced a file and laid it in front of Sammy. "Take your time."

When he opened the file there were a group of six pictures. Sammy didn't hesitate and pointed at one of the men. "That's who was in the car that hit Colby."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely positive. I know he was waving a gun around, but he wasn't paying any attention to me so I managed to get a good look and I remember the scar that ran from his eye to his chin." She pointed it out on the photo.

"Thanks Sammy, you can go back to Jenny now."  
"Don, there is something I need to say, but I don't know how to tell you."

"About Colby?" Don asked. Sammy nodded in response. "Just say it if you think it's something that we need to know."

She took a deep breath knowing that they didn't need any more pressure to find their friend, but they also needed all the facts regards his condition. "The bullet wound was bleeding profusely when I bandaged it, he needs to receive treatment. Add to that the injuries he was likely to have received by being hit by the car…."

"What are his injuries likely to be and how much time do we have?"

"I don't really know, but an educated guess, lower leg injuries, possible neck or spinal injuries. He was unconscious so he may even have a head injury. It's all speculation, but between that and the bleeding from the bullet wound he could easily go into shock. As for time, it could be as little as a few hours."

"Then we best get out there and find him." Don stated solemnly.

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Xavier dumped the car he had hit Colby in just a few miles from Sammy's house he wouldn't have been able to drive much further with the huge crack in the windscreen caused by the agent's head, there was an SUV with stolen plates waiting where he had left it. He dragged the unconscious form of Colby out of the back seat of the car, went through his pockets and found his key for the handcuffs, which he then used to remove Jasmine's cuffs.

"What did you think you were doing Jas?" He asked.

"I just wanted to see him, keep an eye on him to ensure he wasn't getting too close to our operation."

"I told you to stay away from him." He snarled.

"I know and I'm sorry, I needed to know what he had found out."

"You should have left that to me. I'm going to make sure he's out of your life for good now."

"What are you going to do? If you kill him you'll bring the whole of law enforcement down on us."

"We'll be long gone by the time they find him."

"What are you planning?"

"You'll see my love."

Jasmine glanced at the crumpled body of Colby laying on the floor at their feet. She still cared about what happened to him but she needed to keep Xavier on side. "Lets get out of here before we are located."

Nodding Xavier grabbed Colby and dragged him to the SUV, opened the trunk and threw him in. Then he opened the passenger side door for Jasmine before sliding behind the wheel and driving off.

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"Don, LAPD have found the car Heller was driving." Called David.

"Lets go."

"Please call me when you find him." Said Sammy.

Nodding the two men along with Megan and Liz climbed into the cars they had arrived in and made their way to the nearby location of the dumped car. When they reached the scene LAPD had taped it off, they knew this was linked to the abduction of an FBI Agent and were taking no chances. On seeing the teams identification they allowed them under the tape where they were met by none other than Lieutenant Walker.

"Eppes. We really do have to stop meeting like this. It seems that your man, Granger, has a target on his back." He held out his hand for Don to shake.

"Hey Gary. Didn't realise you'd be here."

"As soon as I heard what was happening I thought I might be of some use. This Xavier Heller is suddenly big news amongst the gangs, even though nobody would tell us much of any use."

"We're happy to have you on board. What can you tell us?"

"Nothing you're going to want to hear."

"Tell us anyway."

"There is a lot of blood on the backseat of the car, more on the ground here." He pointed to the ground where Colby had lain. "There was another vehicle here, from the wheel base the techs tell me it's an SUV. More than that we just don't know yet. The techs are getting access to any CCTV footage in the surrounding area as we speak, but it could be a lot of footage."

"Gary, I have to tell you we don't think that we have a lot of time. Apart from the gun shot wound he could have multiple serious injuries from the impact with the car. We need as many people on this as can be spared."

"You've got as many as you need. My team have already taken some of the footage back to LAPD to start reviewing and they'll work with you until you find him. You hit one law enforcement officer, you hit them all, regardless of the agency."

"We appreciate it Gary."

"You'd do the same."

Don nodded. "Well Charlie has said he'll meet us back at headquarters, I don't think there is anything more we can do here, so I suggest we get back there and start searching for clues and nail this SOB once and for all."

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"No, no, no. That won't work." Sighed Charlie, he desperately wanted to help Don locate Colby but nothing they had come up with so far was of any use. When they got the agent back he was seriously thinking of suggesting to Don that they implanted him with a microchip, if he was going to keep attracting trouble at least they'd always be able to find him.

"Hey Chuck. Thanks for getting here so quick."

"Bro, no worries. I just don't know that we're going to be able to help."

"Just the fact you're here helps." Don assured him. He wouldn't admit it to Charlie but just having his brother near helped to settle him and focus his mind. He knew that once the right information was to hand his brother was the man to sift the wheat from the chaff.

David and Liz had gone to the AV room to start sifting through the mountain of CCTV that LAPD had managed to collect, the FBI and LAPD techs were going through some as well. They hoped to find the vehicle that Heller was using and then track it through the city to it's destination, but all this took time, something that Colby quite possible didn't have a lot of.


	24. Yearned

**Disclaimer: Usual stuff, don't own Numb3rs or the characters. **

**A/N: Thank you to all of those that have read and to those who have taken time to review. Your support has been appreciated.**

Chapter Twenty Four – Yearned

"Here we are." Xavier said.

"Where exactly are we?" Jasmine asked, confused.

"This is where we are going to dump our FBI problem."  
Jasmine looked around, all she could see was an abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere. "I don't get it."

They got out of the SUV leaving an unconscious Colby locked in the trunk. Jasmine followed Xavier to an area behind the warehouse which was located in a slight valley. They walked down an incline to where a large hole had been dug. Xavier sighed with satisfaction.

"Ah my boys have done good."

"What are you talking about?"

"All in good time, first we need to find out exactly what the FBI know about our little operation." He turned on his heel and strode back to the SUV.

"Rise and shine Agent Granger." Xavier hauled Colby out of the trunk dumping him in a heap on the ground, he then took a bucket from one of the half a dozen men that were standing around and threw the contents of ice cold water over the stricken agent.

Colby had been vaguely aware of an immense pain, but he had chosen to remain oblivious to it, preferring a state of blissful ignorance. This had just become impossible when some kind soul decided to throw ice cold water over him, bringing him completely round and therefore causing him to face the pain, when he opened his eyes he realised just how much trouble he was in.

"Ah there we go. Agent Granger, we've not met, but I believe you know my girlfriend and I'm Xavier Heller." He pulled Jasmine to him and laid a possessive arm over her shoulder.

Colby looked from the man he recognised as Xavier to Jasmine. "You're welcome to her."

"Oh that's not nice Agent Granger. Here I am being civil and you say that about my girlfriend. Not to worry, I'll enjoy your punishment in the end. In the meantime I need you to tell me what the FBI know about our operation." Colby tried to keep the look of surprise off his face, but clearly failed. "Well that answers that one, you obviously didn't know that Jasmine was part of the business."

Turning his head to look at her, Colby asked. "How could you do it? After everything you told me about Rutherford?" It was costing him a great deal of his diminishing energy levels to remain conscious let alone ask questions, but he needed to know.

"Oh, she told you that she didn't know about Jason's drug deals and you believed her? That's priceless. She was the brains behind his operation, just like she is behind mine."

"I'm so sorry Colby, I wanted to get out, you were my chance, but when you believed Jason over me I knew that there was no way it would work out. Xavier offered me an opportunity to make a lot of money, then I could leave the country and have a fresh start somewhere."

"Bitch." Was all he could manage.

Xavier's face darkened, he looked ready to kill Colby there and then, Jasmine laid a hand on his arm. "It's alright Xavier, he has good reason to hate me. I put him through a lot to try to get his attention."

"The wreath, glass, knife and bomb were you." It was a statement, not a question.

"That's right, I was trying to get close to you. I even set up Jason so that he would kidnap me, admittedly you weren't supposed to be there or get hurt, I am sorry for that."

"You are one crazy lady." He managed to say before passing out again.

"He's no fun." Stated Xavier. "We still need to get out of him what he knows. It's good that the FBI don't know about you, obviously, but we need to know if they are aware of the extent of our supply and who our dealers are."

"He is clearly seriously injured, why don't you leave it, lets just get out of here."  
"No! I will not leave it, I have invested a lot of time and money into this, I will not just abandon our operation if there is no need to do so."

"I will not stay here and watch you torment this man. If you are going to kill him then you should do it."  
"Oh no, straight forward execution is too good for him, I plan to make sure he suffers, after all he hurt the woman that I love."

"What are you going to do to him?"

"Like I said, you will see."

"I'm going to wait in the car I want no part of this."

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Jasmine got back into the SUV and watched as the heavens once again opened in a torrential downpour. Xavier and all of his men took shelter in the warehouse but they left the unconscious Colby to the elements, he was getting soaked and there was nothing she could do to prevent it. When she cornered Colby in the car park outside the restaurant and asked for his help because she was in trouble, she hadn't been lying.

When she had realised that her plan to get out of the life she had found herself in wasn't going to work she had hooked up with Xavier, she had known that the man was obsessed with her and very well connected, with her brains for business that meant she could make a lot of money. At first it went well, then someone got stupid and added strychnine into the ecstasy, when she found out she had tried to get Xavier to destroy the batches, but he would hear none of it. The money he was making had gone to his head. Then the deaths started and Jasmine had got scared and decided to go to Colby, tell him what had been going on and take whatever punishment she was due. Unfortunately he had dismissed her fear and wanted to take her straight to the FBI and there was no way she could go in without first telling him what she knew and getting his agreement that he would help her avoid jail time. She had thought he might help her get into witness security. When she saw the hurt and anger etched on his face that was when Jasmine realised that the man she cared for would never help her.

In some ways she couldn't blame him, he had been betrayed. He was a man of honour and integrity so it would never have sat well with him if he had helped anyway.

Jasmine had yearned for a normal life, preferably with Colby. A house, kids, a dog even, someone to cook for and take care of, someone who cared for her as deeply as she for them. As usual she had gone too far.

When she had seen Colby with the woman and little girl she had seen everything that she couldn't now have. She had to admit she was jealous. The woman was beautiful and the little girl clearly adored Colby. That woman had exactly what she had dreamed of her whole life, but she had thrown it all away.

Money had become more important to her than anything else. She had grown up poor and struggling, that was not a life she wanted for her own children when she had them so she had set about finding a way to make money. When she met Jason she realised that she stood a better chance of achieving her goal in the States, the pickings were much riper. He had been easy to manipulate and for a time they did very well, but then she started to realise that it wasn't all about money, she wanted her children to grow up honest so she left Jason.

She couldn't believe her luck when she met Colby, he was a good man and would make a good Dad and role model for children, just not hers. It saddened her to realise what she had thrown away.

Looking out the window she noticed that the rain had stopped and Xavier, with his men, had formed a circle around Colby's inert form. She feared for his life, but she also feared for her own. She had to now ask herself what meant more to her, Colby's life or her own.

She watched as Xavier once again bought Colby back into the land of the conscious and this time got right in the agent's face, grabbing him by his shirt to pull him into a sitting position. If she knew anything about Colby it was that he would take what he knew to the grave with him. She needed to decide what side of the fence she was on and stick with it. Watching Xavier haul Colby to his feet to stand face to face with him and then toss him down on the ground like a rag doll, she made her decision.

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Colby was cold and wet, what the hell was going on? He opened his eyes to a grey sky over head and found himself being pulled into a sitting position by his shirt causing pain to scream down his back. That couldn't be good.

"What do the police know about my operation." Snarled Xavier.

"Everything." Colby spoke through the wall of pain.

"Somehow I doubt that Agent Granger, otherwise you wouldn't be here with me, I'd be in prison."

"The arrest warrant is in the works."

"Again, doubtful, I have contacts inside the justice system, I'd know if a warrant had been issued."

"Well since you have all the answers you don't need me so I can be on my way."

Xavier started to lose his temper, he had never had someone behave so calmly when they're life was in danger, using both hands on Colby's shirt he pulled him to his feet so that he was looking straight into his eyes.

As Colby was hauled up the pain in his body became almost overwhelming, his whole body was screaming out in agony, he gritted his teeth determined not to give his tormentor the satisfaction of reacting. If Liz were here she'd probably comment on his stubborn streak again, but it had served him well in the past.

"You are full of shit, Agent Granger. I am going to enjoy getting rid of you. Jasmine is too distracted with you around, I want her focus to be on me, you have to go." With that he threw Colby back onto the ground.

This time the pain was too much and the blackness took him once more, at least the agent couldn't feel any pain whilst unconscious.

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Don and Gary's teams were working flat out reviewing every bit of footage they

could get their hands on.

David had located an SUV that was caught on a camera leaving the area where the original car had been dumped but even with Amita's picture software they were having a job confirming if the driver of the SUV was Heller.

"Hang on." Said David. "What about getting a picture from a reflective surface?"

"We can do that, but what surface, where?" Asked a frustrated tech. He realised the seriousness of the situation, he had got to know Colby well and wanted to help, but having all these agents breathing down his neck was beginning to annoy him.

"Roll the tape back again." Said Amita. "David might be on to something."

The tech did as he was told and then played it again.

"There, look. He is pulled up next to that other car, is that a reflection in the window?" Asked Amita.

The tech looked closer. "You know I think it might be." He quickly isolated that area, carried out some enhancement of the picture then ran it through Amita's software. "Got it, that's definitely him."

"Now all we need to do is track it on the other cameras."

"Yeah if only it was as easy as that. We can't see a registration plate so we're going to have to take the tapes from the cameras down the street one at a time and look for the right SUV. Not to mention when it comes to junctions if we don't know which way they've turned we'll have to search through the next camera in every direction. It's gonna take a while so you may want to put some coffee on." The tech said.

"Charlie may be able to help, he can use traffic flow to assign probabilities to each route that they may take, based on amount of traffic and escape routes. We have to assume that this Xavier is going to want to get out of the city quickly."

"That sounds like it could help, can you ask Charlie to do that?"

"Yeah, sure." Amita replied and hurried out of the room.

Charlie listened intently as Amita explained what they needed. "Yes, I can do that, it's straight forward enough." He pulled his laptop in front of him and started pulling up various systems and typing furiously.

Don watched, amazed and grateful once again for his brother's single mindedness. It didn't matter what the situation he was always willing to try to help. He had no idea how happy his brother was to have him on this one right now. Colby was family and was missing yet again. This was all too familiar and Don hoped that it had a happy ending, preferably with Colby walking away relatively unharmed and Xavier in cuffs. He cringed at this last thought, he knew it was unlikely Colby hadn't received further injuries from his argument with the car. Don's shrink would be impressed that he was thinking along the lines of putting Xavier in cuffs as opposed to putting him in a box in the ground for a permanent vacation from life. In the past his methods had been less than by the book, he had no doubt he would do whatever it took to get Colby back alive, but he hoped for a positive outcome that didn't involve him having to fire his weapon and take someone else's life.

"Got it. These are the optimal routes for Heller's escape out of the city limits." He handed the information to Amita who hurried back to the AV lab with it, she knew time was of the essence and the sooner the tech could narrow down which footage to search the quicker they would find Colby.

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Jasmine got out of the SUV, having made the decision about what she should do, now she needed to find a way to do it. Looking around she discovered this was going to be no easy task.

Xavier had seen her get out of the vehicle and he beckoned her over to him. "Time to get rid of this thorn in our relationship once and for all."

"If you love me you'll leave him here for the FBI to find and we'll go now." Urged Jasmine.

"I do love you, which is why I am going to make him," he pointed to Colby. "disappear permanently. Now if you protest too much I'm going to think you still have feelings for him and I'll be forced to deal with that."

"I don't have any feelings for him, I'm just a little nervous about being here so long, I've seen how this team work and they're like no other FBI unit I've come across."

"Message received, we'll dump the problem and be on our way. The FBI will be so busy trying to figure out where he is that they'll not come after us." He pulled her into what he thought was a reassuring embrace. As he did so she covertly slipped her hand into his jacket pocket and removed his cell, placing it in her own.

Xavier indicated to his men to take hold of the unconscious agent and they dragged him round the side of the warehouse to where the hole had been dug.


	25. Zoothapsis

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters. **

**A/N: Zoothapsis is a real word, if some what of an old one!**

Chapter Twenty Five – Zoothapsis

Jasmine watched as Xavier's men dragged Colby over to a box that she hadn't noticed before. Suddenly it dawned on her that it was the right size to put a body in.

"Xavier?"

"It's perfect, don't you think? I have no doubt at some point he'll come round and find himself shut in that box. The FBI have no idea where to look, he'll be just another agent who went missing and the body was never found. I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that the man who treated you so badly will suffer."

She was horrified, it was bad enough that he wanted to kill Colby, but now he wanted to bury him alive. She had to do something. "Well I'd rather not watch this, if you don't mind. After all I did care about him at one time."

Xavier narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I think you should stay here with me and witness his burial."

"I trust you darling, I don't need to witness it." She was playing on his insecurities, the fear that she didn't trust him to do what needed doing.

"Well, since you put it like that…." He leant forward and gave her a kiss before turning back to watch as his men lifted Colby into the box and nailed the lid in place.

Jasmine walked casually back to the SUV, she slipped in to the drivers seat and made sure that she couldn't be seen. She quickly pulled the cell out of her pocket and dialled a number she knew off by heart, Colby's desk phone. She just hoped that there was someone there to answer it.

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"We've lost the trail, they've gone out of the city and there are no more cameras." Stated Liz.

"At least we know where to centre our search, lets get the helicopters in the air and get them searching." Responded Don.

"They're grounded due to the low cloud cover today." Megan reminded him.

"Shit. Lets get units into the area then, we'll head out there too." Turning to the tech. "Good job, if anyone finds anything else we'll be on our cells."

David let out a frustrated sigh as he followed his boss out to the bull pen to pick up their gear once more.

"We'll find him David."

"I hope you're right Don, I have a bad feeling about this."

As they reached their cubicle Colby's phone started ringing. They exchanged surprised looks before Don hurried forward to answer it.

"Eppes."

"Agent Eppes, it's Jasmine, I don't have much time, say nothing and just listen."

The others watched as Don said nothing, seemingly avidly listening to whatever was being said. He grabbed a pen and paper off Colby's desk and quickly scribbled something down.

"You need to hurry, I have to go, there is nothing more that I can do to help you." She hung up.

Don quickly explained the phone call.

"Can we trust her?" Asked David.

"I got the impression she genuinely cared about Colby, I don't think we can ignore this." Replied Megan

"Get as many units as you can to this location." Don ordered Liz handing her the piece of paper. "Megan, get in touch with Tim in HRT, we might need his team. David, call the Aviation Unit and tell them that as soon as they can I want the helicopters off the ground and heading to that location."

The bull pen was suddenly a hive of activity as the agents hurried to carry out Don's orders. Once completed they ran for the elevators, wanting to get to the location themselves as quickly as possible. They threw themselves into the cars and tore hell for leather out of the FBI parking area into a torrential downpour which impeded their progress to reach Colby.

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Colby woke to darkness, he knew his eyes were open but he could see nothing. It seemed his whole body was in agony, he felt something trickle down his face and reached his left hand up to wipe it away when his arm hit something hard above his head. Taking a steadying breath he started to feel around him with one hand. He seemed to be in a box only just slightly bigger than he was. He shook his head trying to remember what had happened to him, how had he come to be in so much pain and then shut in what amounted to a box the size of a coffin. Then it all came rushing back to him, everything that had happened in the last year, and he knew that it was quite possible his number was up.

Again he felt something trickle down the other side of his face, he slowly moved his right arm in the limited space to wipe it away, only to have pain shoot down it. He must have injured it, so he used his other hand, no sooner had he wiped at his face than he felt the trickle again, it was then that it dawned on him that there was a steady trickle of water. Already cold and shivering this just added to his discomfort.

He lay silent, trying to control his breathing, right now his instinct was to go berserk and panic, but he had to remain calm.

Someone looking down on the situation obviously thought he needed something more to send him over the edge, he heard the sound of something hitting the top of the box. Considering what he was laying in he could only think that the noise was that of dirt being piled on top of the box. His breathing hitched slightly, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, he was using oxygen but if he kept breathing like someone who had just sprinted the minute mile he would use it up faster.

He tried to move slightly but quickly found that was a bad idea as he was wracked by further pain, there was something going on with his legs, but he had tried to pick a fight with a car, so he couldn't really be surprised that he had come off worse. He decided the best idea was to lay as still as possible.

The water trickling into his prison was getting heavier, this was not good. He snorted to himself, talk about the understatement of the year. It looked to him that his choice was suffocation, drowning or possibly bleeding to death if his gunshot wound was still bleeding, he did think that last was unlikely. To be honest he would have rather bled out than drowned or suffocated, though it went without saying that he'd rather not die at all. He realised that he'd stopped shivering and his arms felt numb, he needed to add hypothermia to his list of possible causes for death.

Feeling tired and unable to focus he closed his eyes allowing his mind to sink into oblivion.

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Don's team pulled into the lot outside the disused warehouse, closely followed by HRT and LAPD. There were several cars dotted around so everyone exited with caution, this turned out to be a wise move as the frantic entrance of law enforcement had not gone unnoticed by Xavier and his men, they now abandoned their attempts to bury the unfortunate Colby and turned their attention to the arriving masses.

Fortuitously the torrential downpour had stopped and the cloud had lifted enough to allow helicopters in the air, 2 birds currently circled overhead.

"Heller, give it up, you're surrounded." Yelled Don. The only response the senior agent got was a hail of bullets that put a few holes in the various vehicles.

"If you're looking for Agent Granger he's gone. We've hidden him and let me tell ya I don't think he has much time left, let us go and I'll tell you where we put him." Called Xavier.

"I know he's here Heller. We will find him and you will go to prison. The only question is will you live to a ripe old age or will you get the needle. Give yourselves up now and I'll recommend to the AUSA to take the death penalty off the table."

"I'm supposed to believe that? No way."

"I'll make a call. Don't do anything stupid, I'll be back."

"Don, this is delaying tactics, if Colby is still alive we have to find him now." Whispered David urgently.

"I know." Don ducked down and moved to where Tim King and his team had taken up position. "If I keep distracting him do you think you and your men can find a way in behind them?"

"Absolutely, I pulled an aerial view of the location when we got your call." He laid it out on a bonnet of an SUV hidden from Heller's view and indicated where his team could come in.

Don nodded and called on the radio to the pilot circling overhead. "HRT are going round the back, confirm that the way is clear."

"All clear, all subjects are located near the warehouse." Responded the pilot.

As Don turned to go back to his position another voice came over the radio. "Ross01 for Agent Eppes."

"Go Ross01."

"We are picking up a faint heat signature on our detector, it could be your Agent Granger. It's behind the warehouse, however there is nobody visible in the area. We believe it's coming from beneath the surface."

Don exchanged horrified looks with David and Tim before replying. "Copy that Ross01, thanks for the information."

David called control and requested that an ambulance was dispatched to their location but was to hold outside the perimeter LAPD had set until it was deemed safe for them to enter.

None of the agents who heard needed any further prompting, Tim's team ran off and circled round the land where they couldn't be seen by Heller. Don and David returned to their 'negotiations' with an even greater sense of urgency.

"Heller?" Called Don.

"Still here. You gonna let us go?"

"You know I can't do that. You have shot and kidnapped a Federal Agent, there will be consequences, but we will take the death penalty off the table if you and your men come peacefully."

"Not going to happen, you are signing your agent's death warrant." There was a tone of glee in the man's voice that grated on Don but he tried not to rise to the bait.

"Agent Granger accepted the risks of the job, the same as we all do, he wouldn't want me to let you go, there are also the drug related deaths that we need to consider."

"Ha, I wondered when you'd bring that up."

Before they could continue any further there were shouts from HRT, who had taken only minutes to run round and encircle the hapless men, they hadn't even been aware of the teams approach until they found their guns pointing in their direction.

"Give me a reason and I will shoot you where you stand." Growled Tim, he had a lot of respect for Eppes and his team and nobody threatened the life of an FBI agent and got away with it if he could help it.

Don and the others approached once they got the signal letting them know the men had all surrendered without a shot being fired.

"You won't find your agent now."

"Don't bet on it, where is Jasmine Fuller?" Asked Don quickly, he wanted to start looking for Colby, but he needed to know that everyone was secured.

"I have no idea, she was here and now she's gone." Replied Xavier.

Don gave instructions to LAPD about locating the woman and then ran round the back of the warehouse, closely followed by the rest of the team, some of HRT and a large contingency of LAPD officers.

The pilot in one of the helicopters overhead directed them to the location of the heat source they had seen.

Don and David were first down the incline to where they could see a hole partially filled back in.

"Get us whatever you can lay your hands on to dig this out." Yelled Don to anyone listening and he then threw himself down into the hole and started digging with his bare hands. He was quickly joined by David. There wasn't enough room for anyone else and the others just stood frozen to the spot.

Tim had sent one of his men back to the HRT truck to grab shovels, when the man arrived back he tossed them down to Don and David. The rain had turned the earth to mud making it harder to dig but neither man stopped until they struck a solid object. They glanced at each other briefly and quickly scraped the rest of the mud away to reveal the top of a home made coffin. David swallowed hard and they stepped off the box, he inserted the blade of his shovel round the edge on one side and Don did the same on the other. Everyone around was holding their breath.

They got the lid off and saw the still form of Colby, the box was almost half filled with water.

An HRT medic quickly knelt by the side of the box and felt for a pulse at Colby's wrist, getting nothing he tried at his neck, there was nothing. He swore under his breath.

"Get the paramedics in here, NOW!"

Sliding down the slippery slope leading to where the agent had been buried two paramedics joined them. They took one look and decided that they couldn't wait to stabilise his neck in case of spinal injuries, they would just have to risk moving him. They certainly couldn't perform any life saving measures with him laying in the box.

"I need everyone to grab a piece of clothing, keep him as steady as you can, we are going to need to lift him out of there and onto the back board." One paramedic instructed.

Willing hands grabbed onto Colby's clothes whilst the medic held his head firmly. Happy that they had as good a grip on the man as they possibly could the paramedic called "On three."

They lifted him onto the back board, without being asked a line of agents and LAPD officers formed up the incline and the board was passed quickly from one to another, the slope being too wet and slippery for a single team of people to carry it out. A gurney was waiting for them at the top and he was lowered down and rapidly loaded into the ambulance, finally the paramedics were able to start properly assessing their patient. The most immediate concern was no breathing or pulse. Whilst one paramedic used a mask and bag to push oxygen into Colby the other started to cut his shirt and put pads on his chest in order to attempt to restart his heart.

Everyone just stood silently praying, to all intents and purposes Agent Colby Granger was dead.

After several attempts, peppered with bouts of activity to put a line in, which was proving difficult as due to hypothermia all the veins had pulled back into his body to try to preserve blood flow to the major organs, there was a beep from the monitor they'd attached him to, followed by another.

There was a collective sigh of relief, although everyone knew he was by no means out of the woods at least there was a sign of life. The paramedics decided to take what they could get and deliver their patient to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible. They covered him with a foil hypothermia blanket to start the process of heating his body back up to a more normal temperature.

"We're taking him to UCLA, we're not going to do any further treatment here, we need to get him in or we're going to lose him again and I don't know we could get him back." The paramedic wasn't pulling any punches but he needed them to understand that a heartbeat didn't mean survival.

"We'll escort you." Stated Don.

"I'll put a call in to dispatch and get any available units in the area to clear the roads for you." Said an LAPD Lieutenant who overheard.

"Thanks." Called Don over his shoulder as he, David, Megan and Liz ran to the cars.

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On arrival at the ER the paramedics gave the attending doctors and nurses a run down of their patients condition as they jogged him into the trauma room, leaving the rest of his team to stand helplessly outside waiting for news.

"You should both go and get cleaned up, we don't want you getting ill." Megan said softly, David and Don were covered from head to toe in mud.

"No." Was their simple response.

"Come on guys, you'll be no good to him if you're in hospital yourselves." Liz cajoled.

A nurse passing by overheard their conversation. "I'll give you some scrubs to change into, you can use the showers in the locker rooms." She said kindly.

"We will find you if there is any news." Assured Megan.

There was nothing they could do and they knew that Megan and Liz were right, they were both soaking wet with mud and neither wanted to get ill so they reluctantly followed the nurse.

Half an hour later they were back and there had been no news on their friend. Don had called Charlie, he was on his way over. The waiting area had filled with Colby's FBI colleagues and LAPD officers he had worked with. The team were touched by the overwhelming support. This was only increased when Alan, Charlie, Amita and Larry joined them. Megan's eyes filled with tears and Larry hurriedly embraced her and mumbled what he hoped were reassuring words.

The nurses were a little stressed by the amount of people in the waiting area but they worked round it, they knew that anyone involved in the services who was injured could elicit this kind of response from others working in the same field.

A doctor walking through the ER on his way out the door after completing his shift was amazed by the sea of bodies dotted around.

"What's going on?" He asked a nurse.

"An FBI agent is in critical condition after an on duty incident." He replied.

The doctor frowned and looked around him, when he spotted them he couldn't believe it. He quickly approached the group. "Agents?" He quickly looked around the now familiar group of FBI agents and immediately deduced who was missing, it didn't take an FBI Agent for that. "Agent Granger is the injured man?" Doctor Jensen asked.

"I'm afraid so Doctor Jensen." Don replied.

"Damn, I had hoped I'd seen the last of all of you. No offence."

"None taken Doc."

"Where is he?"

They indicated the trauma room into which Colby had disappeared nearly an hour ago.

"I'll go and see if I can help, or find out anything for you."

The agents smiled appreciatively, they had all liked Doctor Jensen when they had dealt with him in the past. He was direct and stood no nonsense. They watched as the doctor entered the trauma room, allowing them a brief glimpse of their friend. What they saw didn't reassure them any, they could see someone pressing down on Colby's chest, that was the last thing they saw before the doors closed once more.

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An hour later Doctor Jensen returned to the group to give them an update on their colleagues condition.

"I need to tell you that we are still working on him, Agent Granger's condition is far from stable. He has severe hypothermia, we are trying to warm him by taking his blood out of his body and warming it then putting it back in. We were unable to get a normal IV in so we have a central line in place as well. He has other multiple injuries but our main concern is still his body temperature, once we can get that up and keep him stable we will assess his other injuries. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but I need to get back in there."

"Thank you for taking the time to come and speak to us Doctor Jensen." Said Alan, as the father figure he felt it was his place to speak for them all, especially as the team were some what shell shocked still.

The doctor nodded and disappeared back into the trauma room.

"I don't quite believe this is happening. It's so surreal." Murmured David.

"He's going to make it." Don said, as much to himself as to anyone else.

Alan sat down between his son and David. "Colby is one of the strongest people I have ever met. If anyone can survive this trauma it's him. His strength comes from the love and support he receives from the people around him. Take a look." Alan indicated the waiting area which had filled with even more law enforcement officers. "There is no doubt in my mind that he is a very sick young man but I have to believe that he knows that everyone here is pulling for him. Our strength will fuel his."

Megan and Liz's eyes filled with tears as they looked around the waiting area at the outpouring of support, not only for Colby but for them as well. Alan's words struck a chord with all of them and strengthened their resolve that Colby would pull through this latest crisis and they would be there when he did.

**A/N: This was supposed to be the last chapter, but I then realised whilst writing it that there was still a bit more to tell, more than I wanted to put into 1 chapter, so there are going to be a few more! Thanks for sticking with it and I hope the last few chapters don't let you down!**

**Oh and in case you haven't googled it - Zoothapsis means prematurely buried!  
**


	26. 10 Bones

**Disclaimer: As before don't own Numb3rs or the characters.**

**A/N: This is a bit shorter than previous chapters, I've hurt my back and can't sit for long periods! Sorry. Back allowing I will update with the next chapter tomorrow.**

Chapter Twenty Six – 10 Bones

It was some considerable time later that Doctor Jensen reappeared in the waiting area. The nurses had been patient with the amount of people there but they were starting to trip over them so they had asked him to come out and speak to them and see if he could get some to leave, this was after all an ER and a busy one at that, there were other patients and their families to consider. He stepped out of the trauma room and approached Don and his team.

"Can I please have the attention of anyone who is waiting for news on Agent Granger's condition?" He called, immediately the hubbub of noise stopped and dozens of faces turned to him, including those of his team and their family. "Colby is still in a critical condition, we have managed to bring his temperature back up so have now been able to assess his other injuries. He has several broken bones, due to the gunshot wound he lost a lot of blood, he has received transfusions for this but the loss of blood combined with the hypothermia sent him into shock and he is now in a coma and we have had to put him on a ventilator to assist his body to heal as he doesn't have the strength. He is going to require an operation both to remove the bullet and to repair one of the breaks, he will be going to the OR for this shortly. I appreciate that you all want to know how he is, but this is an ER and we have other patients and relatives to consider. Could I please ask that you all go home and get some rest, we will ensure that his family is kept up to date on his condition and I am sure that they in turn will let you know how he is doing."

This rapid fire update on Colby's condition was met with murmurs from those assembled.

"Doctor Jensen, my team and I will be staying, we are Colby's family as well, his other family are too far away to be here right now."

"I understand, but we can no longer have the other law enforcement officers hanging around the waiting area, it's just not equipped to deal with this amount of people."

"I will sort it." Don responded.

Doctor Jensen left to see to Colby's transfer to the surgical team for further treatment.

Turning to address the group at large, Don took a deep breath. "I want to thank you all for being here for Colby. Please, do as Doctor Jensen has asked and return home, I will personally ensure that any updates on his condition are passed on to you all."

The group started to disperse, but not before each of them approached the team and offered words of support.

When the final officer and agent had left the ER waiting area a nurse approached them. "Colby has been taken up to the OR, when they have finished operating he will be transferred to ICU, can I suggest you go upstairs to their waiting room, it will be quieter? Maybe get something to eat and drink as you will probably have a bit of a wait."

Alan thanked the nurse and ushered the others out of the ER and to the cafeteria, ignoring the protests. "You have to eat. You heard the nurse, he has only just gone to the OR, it won't take that long to get something to eat, you all need to keep your strength up."

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Once finished in the cafeteria, where they had consumed large quantities of coffee and picked at sandwiches they headed to the ICU waiting area. A nurse watched them arrive, she had been told by the nurse in the ER to expect them so she left them in peace.

They silently took their seats and began another vigil for Colby, each lost in their own thoughts.

David broke the silence. "Oh no, I totally forgot we promised Sammy we'd let her know when we found Colby."

"Damn, I did too. I better go and call her." Don sighed.

"Let me." Said Megan.

He knew he should do it, he was the supervisor, but he didn't think he could face making another call with the bleak news. Colby's Mom had broken down when he called her, she was unable to fly out to see him due to health issues, she would need to wait for Colby's sister to collect her and drive up. Don had assured her that he would phone as soon as there was any more news.

"Thanks Megan, I appreciate it." He reached up and squeezed her hand as she got up to make the call. She was gone no more than 10 minutes.

"Is she OK?" Asked Liz.

"Yeah, she wanted to come down, but I persuaded her to stay at home with Jenny. She isn't going to tell her anything yet, I said I'd call again once he was out of surgery." Silence descended on the group once more.

Three hours later another familiar face appeared at the waiting room door.

"Doctor Vassen, what are you doing here?" Asked David.

"I was the on call surgeon for the ER, I removed the bullet from his leg. One of our orthopaedic surgeons did the tibia repair."

"How is he?"

"Holding his own. What do you know about his injuries?" She asked cautiously.

Alan quickly filled her in on what they had been told in the ER.

"Colby has a total of 10 broken bones. Both his tibia were broken, one of which was so badly displaced it had to be pinned, the other will heal using just a cast. His right radius was also broken, but again it will heal with the aid of a cast. He has a skull fracture, but there is no sign of any bleed so we will just monitor him to ensure that remains the case. The least concerning of these breaks is 4 ribs and 2 fingers on his left hand, which we've taped together. To be honest considering he was hit by a car I would say that he is lucky that he hasn't got more broken bones."

"Will he make a full recovery?" Asked Alan.

"We don't know, his hypothermia was severe, couple that with blood loss and his other injuries his body is having trouble coping which is why he has slipped into a coma. I can say that if he makes it his bones will heal, he'll need physical therapy to regain full movement though."

"Do you know how long he is likely to remain in a coma?" Liz wanted to know.

"There is no way of knowing at the moment, everyone heals at different rates. Given Colby's previous injuries in the last 12 months it may take him longer to come back from this."

"Well I keep saying he is stubborn, lets hope I'm right." Stated Liz.

"He is being brought down from the OR, once he's settled the nurse will come and get you. I don't need to tell you the routine, you've all been here before, sadly. I'm about to go off duty, but I will drop by again tomorrow to check on him."

"Thanks Doc."

A short time later the ICU nurse came to get them, although there was eight of them she turned a blind eye and let them all go in together, they looked like they needed each others support to get through this. She showed them to the room and left to give them some privacy, knowing her patient was being monitored from a bank of screens nearby.

Colby was laying in the bed surrounded by machines, it was nothing they hadn't seen before, but this time it seemed so much worse. One leg was encased in a cast, the other had a metal cage type contraption holding the fracture in place. There was also a cast on his broken right arm. A warm blanket was covering him and out of the top they could see a line coming from a vein in his neck to an IV. Don walked up to the bed and gripped the bedside railing tightly, what he really wanted to do was get his hands on Xavier Heller for doing this to his agent. Alan saw the pent up anger in his eldest son, he couldn't blame Don for being angry, but now wasn't the time. He rested a hand on his shoulder. "Its OK Donnie." He said softly, the senior agent turned to his father, his eyes filled with pain and anger. "He will get through this and so will you."

Don simply nodded and stepped back from the bed. David and Liz stepped forward. Neither could quite comprehend how this had come to pass, but as they stood there they both vowed to get Colby back on his feet and back to work as soon as possible. Alan again stood close to support the younger generation.

Megan, Larry, Charlie and Amita stood round the bed together, they simply didn't know what to say or do. No words could explain the multitude of feelings that seeing someone as fit and athletic as Colby laying in that bed brought out in them.

"I want you all to go home and get some rest." Instructed Alan. "I am going to stay with Colby overnight. I am not taking no for an answer."

The patriarch had spoken, everyone wanted to argue with him, but one glance at the man told them it wasn't up for discussion and they all said their good nights and reluctantly left.


	27. 9 Days

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters.**

**A/N: Your reviews and story alerts have kept me going, so thank you so much. 2 more chapters after this one. Enjoy.**

Chapter Twenty Seven – 9 Days

Colby had been in a coma for 9 days now, he was never alone, someone sat with him round the clock, the team were splitting their time between the hospital and the office, there had been no sign of Jasmine, it was like she had completely vanished. The doctors still weren't able to say when or if he would wake up. The longer he remained in the coma, the more unlikely it was.

Alan gave the young agent a good talking to that first night. Urging him to wake up and put everyone's minds at rest.

"Colby, son, if you can hear me you have to wake up, and soon. The team need you to be OK. I need you to be OK. I still remember the first time I met you, I found you to be such a quiet man, serious and polite. As we got to know each other you became someone I respected and cared for as a son. I was so relieved when that whole spy thing turned out to be nothing more than you doing your job. I was happy to welcome you back into the house, so bashful over the brave thing you had done, so dismissive of your accomplishments. It was good to see you back with the team and see you laughing and relaxing with them. Colby, I want that man back now, it's not your time to go, come back to us."

Megan sat quietly watching the ventilator breathe for Colby, the gentle rise and fall of his chest, wishing it wasn't a machine doing it for him. She leant forward and rested her hand gently on his arm.

"Come on Colby, you have to wake up. Who am I gonna find dates for if you don't? Who is going to tease me about my fancy car? It's funny, we started the same day and at first I didn't think much of you, I found you were so intolerant of my skills. Over time though you came to understand the importance of behavioural analysis and you became more like the annoying little brother who just had to ridicule whatever his sister was doing. Watching you in your hospital bed again is so wrong, I would give anything to take away all the things that have happened to you, but I can't, Larry says that it's all part of the cosmic order, but I don't care right now, I just want you to be well again. We are not complete without you, come back to us."

Charlie put down the book he was reading and glanced over at the hospital bed. Amita had just left to go to work, he didn't have any classes so was staying until Don arrived.

"I still need to speak to Don about getting you micro-chipped when you come out of this man. I think back to when you first started with the team and how I thought you were just a bit of a meat head, you soon proved me wrong. You were so respectful of my work, despite the jokes you made and the fact you didn't always understand. I have come to see you as a member of my family, I can turn to you in times when I am struggling and you always manage to put things in perspective when Don can't. You're like Don in so many ways, you've just got a different take on the world, but you have the same strength and sense of loyalty that he displays. I need you to listen to me now Colby, the team and I need you, come back to us."

Liz was at a loss. She had always teased Colby but she had a lot of time for him, he was going to have a fantastic career in the FBI, he just needed to wake up.

"Granger what ya playing at, laying around when there are bad guys to chase eh? Don, Megan and David are worried about you, no work is getting done. I, of course, don't give two hoots if you lay here doing nothing…. OK, that isn't true, I was bluffing, but you would see right through that. You are stubborn, now prove it, show these doctors what Colby Granger is made of, wake up and get better. Come back to us."

Don stood up and paced the floor, sitting watching over Colby was hard. He hated to see him so still, he was full of perpetual motion normally.

"Brother, you have to wake up now. Enough rest, time to get back on your feet and back to work, we need our resident clown back. You may be a pain in the ass, but you're our pain in the ass. When you first joined the team you had such an army mentality, still do sometimes, everything was so black and white with you. Now you see things in shades of grey along with the rest of us. Out of all my rookies you've given me the biggest headache, but you also make me proud to be your Supervisor, I don't think I've ever told you that before so let me repeat it. I'm proud to be your Supervisor and to work with you. If you tell anyone I said that though I'll deny it! We need you Colby, come back to us."

David stood in the doorway looking out into the hallway, he needed a moment before sitting and staring at his best friend's still form, taking a deep breath he turned back into the room and walked over to the bedside. He laid his hand on Colby's arm.

"Wake the hell up Granger. I can't watch you lay here like this, I need a partner to boss around. We're brothers and I feel like part of me is missing when I'm out in the field without you. You were such a hothead when we first met, jumping into situations without thinking through the consequences. I haven't totally knocked that out of you yet, but I want the opportunity to try, that isn't going to happen if you're laying in here. If, no, when, I get my own team I want an agent on my team who is just like you though, loyal, determined and fast on their feet, of course if I can have you that would be perfect, why break up a winning combo eh? I need you Colby, come back to us."

David closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the last 9 days had been the longest of his life. His hand was still resting on Colby's arm, he felt a movement and opened his eyes, looking down he thought he'd imagined it, his friend's eyes were closed and he was still, then he felt it again.

"Colby? Come on man." He urged as he noticed the slightest flicker of his eyelids. He hurried out into the hallway and called to a nurse. "I think he's coming round." The nurse's eyes widened in surprise, but she picked up the phone and called for a doctor then followed David back into the room.

"He moved his arm and his eyes flickered."  
"That could be involuntary Agent Sinclair." The nurse didn't want the man to get his hopes up.

"Look, there." David pointed and the nurse turned back to look at the man in the bed, sure enough she could see movement as well.

"Agent Granger, can you hear me? Open your eyes for me."

Colby could hear murmuring, it was beginning to annoy him, that and the constant beeping. Couldn't a man get some sleep in peace and quiet. Now someone was telling him to open his eyes, and what the hell did he have stuck in his throat, what was going on? He felt the pressure of someone squeezing his arm and then he heard a familiar and welcome voice.

"Colby, you have a tube in to help you breathe, stay calm and the doctor will be here soon."

Who the hell was David kidding, he should try staying calm with a tube stuck down his throat, he didn't like the feeling of not being able to breathe for himself, he made this clear by reaching up to pull the damn thing out himself only to discover his right arm was heavy, what was going on here?

"Whoa, no you don't. Lay still Agent Granger."

He still hadn't opened his eyes, but at the sound of a new voice he opened them slightly to find a lady he didn't know standing over him. Who was she to tell him to lay still.

"You're in hospital, you are safe, just lay still and the doctor will be here any moment to take the tube out."

No sooner were the words out than another familiar, and not so welcome, face appeared. He recognised Doctor Vassen, yeah he was back in hospital alright, either that or he was having one realistic nightmare.

"Agent Granger, we've been here before, I am going to take that tube out, give me a cough when I tell you, alright?"

He simply nodded, he just wanted the tube out. He coughed when instructed and gasped when it was finally removed, it was like his body had forgotten how to breathe for itself for a moment. The nurse quickly slipped an oxygen mask over his face. "Slow, deep breaths Colby. It's alright, there you go." Her voice was soothing and he immediately did as she instructed and started feeling better, that was until he tried to move. Man that hurt, what had they done to him in here.

"No, lay still Colby." Doctor Vassen came back into his view. "You've got some broken bones and we've got one of your lower legs in traction. I know it's probably uncomfortable, but you need to stay still."

He was confused, he didn't really understand fully what was going on, he did know he was tired and closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Is he OK?" Asked a worried David.

"He's just fallen asleep, that's all. We won't be able to fully assess him until he's a bit more awake. It will probably be a few days for that."

"I need to call everyone and let them know that he's awake."

Doctor Vassen didn't want to dampen the agent's mood but she needed to caution him. "He's not out of the woods yet, we don't know if there is any brain damage from lack of oxygen. Only time will tell."

"I understand Doctor, but to us his just being awake for that brief time is fantastic."

Doctor Vassen smiled, the closeness of this team never ceased to amaze her, who was she to dampen their spirits any further.

A few hours later Colby woke up again, this time to a room full of people. This was all a bit surreal as far as he was concerned, the last thing he remembered was standing in Sammy's house, how had he ended up in hospital again.

"Hey man. How ya feeling?" David came into view.

He tried to talk but his throat was dry, he tried clearing it which didn't help. Megan appeared, removed his mask and popped an ice chip into his mouth, he'd have preferred a beer, but he'd take this right now, it felt like heaven. She popped another in before placing his mask back on his face.

"Better?" She asked.

He nodded. "What happened?" He croaked.

"Don't you remember?" Asked Don.

Colby shook his head. "Last thing I remember I was standing in Sammy's kitchen."

The team exchanged looks, then he heard another voice. "Doctor Vassen did say you may not be able to remember what had happened, it's possible the memory loss isn't permanent." He glanced over and saw Alan standing behind Don.

"How long have I been here?"

"You've been in the hospital for 9 days Granger. Slacker." Said Liz.

"Right, that's enough, you're going to tire him out and I need to examine him, everybody out, you can come back later." The imperious voice of Doctor Vassen came from the doorway. "No arguments, out."

Everyone reluctantly said goodbye and left as instructed.


	28. 8 Years Old

**Disclaimer: Same ole, same ole. Don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Sammy and Jenny are mine. Enjoy.**

Chapter Twenty Eight – 8 Years Old

Doctor Vassen found herself surrounded by a team of eager FBI agents as well as Alan and Charlie Eppes when she entered the ICU one morning a few days later.

"How is he doc?"

"I haven't seen him yet, give me a chance!" She shook her head and entered Agent Granger's room, she examined him and exited the room to find the same group still waiting. She sighed, now was a good a time as any to fill them in she supposed, but they were blocking the hallway so she led them to the waiting area. She waited for them all to sit down.

"Physically he is healing. The latest x-rays show that his broken bones are knitting back together nicely, our neurologist doesn't believe there has been any permanent damage, though Colby still doesn't remember anything about how he came to be here. He will be on bed rest with his leg for at least another 2 weeks, possibly longer. I have arranged for him to be moved from the ICU later today, he no longer needs 24 hour care."

"Well that's good news." Said Don. "I sense a but though."

"I'm worried about his mental state. I'm a surgeon, but even I can tell that Colby is severely depressed. If this carries on it will affect his physical health as well."

"What can we do?" Asked Megan.

"All you can do is what you're already doing. Spend plenty of time with him, don't leave him on his own for long periods. My guess is that it's the being on bed rest that is getting him down more than anything."

"I have an idea, but I don't know if it would be allowed." Alan spoke up.

"Tell me what it is and I'll see what I can do." Replied Doctor Vassen.

"I happen to know a little girl who is desperate to see him. Maybe she could lift his spirits?"

"I don't see any reason why she can't visit, especially now he is leaving ICU. If you think it will help it's worth trying."

"I'll call her Mom and arrange it for later today." Stated Don.

"If there is nothing else, I have to complete my rounds."

"Thank you Doctor Vassen, for everything."

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Colby had been moved to a room on a normal ward, this meant he wasn't continually being checked on, which was a relief. The news that his broken bones were mending was great, the fact that he had to remain in bed for at least 2 more weeks was not. He had become snappy with the nurses, his friends could do nothing right and he knew that none of this was their fault, he just couldn't help it. He was bored, frustrated and hated feeling so helpless. He also knew that he had weeks, if not months, of physical therapy in his future and it was likely to be a painful experience. A therapist had already been by to speak to him and explain that once the frame round his leg was removed they would start therapy on that, depending on how long he remained in traction depended on whether they would start therapy on his other leg and his right arm prior to this. Something to look forward to he thought sourly. There was a gentle knock on his door, the team were due to drop by, but he really wasn't in the mood for visitors, he sighed and called out. "Come in."

The door opened a crack and a little face appeared in the gap, a big smile splitting across it. Jenny entered the room and allowed the door to close behind her, she sidled up to the bed. Her Mom had told her she had to be careful not to get too excited in case she hurt the injured man.

"Hey Colby." She said softly.

"Hello Jenny." He replied. He knew he should be pleased to see her, but he was still tired and he lacked patience.

"You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm good." He lied. "How are you? How's school?" He tried to make an effort.

"I'm good, school is good. I'm missing you though, when are you getting out? Will you come over and play with me when you're better? We could go and see my horse."

Colby was feeling overwhelmed by the incessant chatter of the 8 year old, to his shame he suddenly lost it.

"Shut up! Just be quiet for one minute!"

The little girl's mouth dropped open at the tone in Colby's voice, her bottom lip started to quiver and she turned on her heel and ran out of the room in tears. Colby rested his head back on his pillow thoroughly ashamed of his lack of control, before he could think of how to sort it out the door flew open and an extremely wrathful Sammy stormed in.

"What the hell did you say to her? You managed to reduce an 8 year old to tears, are you proud of yourself? She worships you and you shout at her. We have all tried to be patient and understanding, we know this must be hard on you, but you can't keep treating people like shit, especially not my daughter. I have one piece of advice for you before I go… get over yourself!" As quickly as she had arrived she left, leaving Colby to stare at the now closed door.

"Crap." He murmured to himself, she was right, how could he do that to Jenny. At that moment he hated himself more than ever. There was another knock at the door, this time his response was different. "Not now!" He needed some time, he didn't need anyone else telling him what a bad person he was.

The door opened and a nurse bustled in, totally ignoring him. "Did you not hear me say not now?" He asked her.

"I heard, but I have a job to do and I am not going to get into trouble just because you're cranky."

"I just reduced an 8 year old to tears."

"I heard. The hall is buzzing with it. Not my business. You need to get some rest." She straightened the covers over him and left.

Colby had no more visitors that day, he couldn't really blame people for keeping their distance, they had been trying to help, he didn't know how to get over this funk he found himself in.

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Colby was laying staring at the ceiling, despite his enforced bed rest he was tired, but he hadn't managed to get any sleep the previous night, he felt too guilty about the way he had spoken to Jenny. The doctor had told him that the tiredness would pass, but his body was using lots of energy to heal at the moment. He didn't think he would be sleeping again any time soon, every time he closed his eyes he saw Jenny's face, bottom lip quivering, amongst other not so nice vivid images.

There was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal a nurse carrying a tray. "Morning Colby. Breakfast time." She came into the room and sat him up, pulling the table in front of him and laying the tray on it. She opened the curtains and turned back to him. She carried out the usual checks of his temperature and blood pressure then left.

He stared at the sky out of the window, ignoring his breakfast, he really wasn't hungry. At some point someone came in and cleared the untouched breakfast tray away but said nothing. The same routine carried on through out the day, he touched nothing of his lunch or dinner either. The nurses agreed to leave it for now, but if the man didn't eat his breakfast the next morning they would speak to the doctor.

The following morning when his breakfast remained untouched Doctor Vassen was contacted and she paid him a visit.

"What's going on Colby, why aren't you eating?"

"Not hungry."

"I'm told you're not sleeping either, we can give you something to help with that."

"I can't sleep but I don't want to take any more medication."

"I heard about what happened with Jenny Knowles, but something tells me that there is more to this than shouting at a little girl."

Colby sighed but said nothing, he hadn't told anyone about the nightmares or the fact that his memory was returning, it's not something he wanted to share.

"You may not want to talk to me, but you need to talk to someone. If you don't eat something today then I'll have you put back on a drip, you can't afford not to eat if you want to get your strength back." The doctor waited for a response, when she got none she sighed and left the room to go and call for back up.

"Eppes."

"Doctor Vassen here, you need to get someone down to the hospital right now."

"What's happened?"

"He's stopped eating. The nurses tell me he didn't eat anything at all yesterday and is barely drinking. I understand he had no visitors yesterday either."

"After what happened with Jenny we thought it might be wise to give him some space. Time to think."

"That is exactly what he doesn't need, even if he thinks he does, get someone over here right now!" With that she hung up, exasperated.

Don called his father, the team were tied up at the office and he knew if anyone could get through to Colby it was Alan Eppes, everyone else had tried and failed, time to bring in the big guns.

The door opened to admit the form of Alan Eppes. He didn't look happy and Colby could feel a lecture coming.

"Colby Granger what are you playing at? I'm told you're not eating, I don't know how you think that will solve your problems." He looked at the young man's pale face. "Talk to me son." He added softly, pulling a chair up to the bed and resting a hand on his.

"I can't. I don't want to burden anyone else."  
"Burden? Don't be daft. Everyone just wants to help. What's bothering you? There has to be something for you to have snapped at Jenny, I've seen the way you are with her."

"I feel so bad about that. She was chattering and I've not been sleeping, the noise was grating, but I shouldn't have snapped at her."

"No you shouldn't have, but if you talk about the underlying issue then perhaps we can repair your relationship with her."

Colby decided that he needed to talk and Alan was a good listener, in a soft voice, barely audible he told the man what was bothering him. "Every time I close my eyes I am back in that box, buried alive, water creeping up."

"Oh Colby, why didn't you tell someone that your memory was returning?"

"If I didn't talk about it, then it wasn't happening."

"What kind of foolish thinking is that?"

"The kind that has landed me in trouble with Sammy, Jenny and all my friends!" Responded Colby.

"You need to talk about it, once you do it's out there and not in your head. I'm here, I'm listening."

Colby off loaded on Alan Eppes, telling him of the paralysing fear he felt when he woke to a dark room, all alone. He explained about the feel of the water level rising, the cold creeping through his body, the realisation that he may not get out of the box alive. The frustration he felt by not being able to get out of the bed which continued to make him feel like a prisoner, this time of his body not the box. Alan simply sat and listened to the deluge of words that came from the young man. When he finished Colby's eyes met Alan's. "I feel so stupid."

"You are not stupid Colby, you are simply facing some difficult facts about how you landed up in this bed. Don't be ashamed of feeling something you have no control over."

Colby rubbed his left hand over his face, he was exhausted, not just from lack of sleep but from opening up to Alan.

"You need to eat something." He left the room and came back with a sandwich, he sat by and watched as Colby ate it. "Good, now you need to listen to your body and get some sleep."

"Will you stay, please?"

"I promise I will be here when you wake up." Alan assured the man.

"Thank you." Colby closed his eyes and allowed the tiredness to wash over him.

Alan settled back in his chair, intending to keep his promise, only getting up to go to the bathroom and even then he made sure a nurse was in the room. For 7 hours he sat by Colby. Watching over him he realised just how much Colby needed someone to be near whilst he slept. He was woken by nightmares every couple of hours, each time Alan stood and rested a hand on his head, bringing him out of it, looking in the fear filled eyes, reassuring him that he was safe, slowly Colby would relax and drift back into sleep again.

Don watched one such episode when he stopped by after work, he had no idea that his agent and friend had been so badly affected by his time in the box, how could he have, he didn't even know that Colby had remembered until his Dad had called him and told him earlier. He shook his head in sorrow at how much Xavier had put him through, not to mention Jasmine, who had still not been located. His father spotted him as he turned away from the bed and motioned for his son to join him in the hallway, he then stood in the doorway where he could still see Colby's sleeping form.

"How's he doing?"

"I managed to get him to eat a sandwich. He has been having nightmares every couple of hours."

"I'm going to make sure that he's not alone again, he needs to know that if he falls asleep someone is going to be there if he has a nightmare."

"We need to make sure he talks about it as well, Donnie. He's bottled this up, it was bound to blow up, just a shame it was at Jenny."

"I plan to speak to Sammy about that, now we know what triggered it perhaps we can coax her to bring Jenny back when things settle down."

"I hope so, Colby is feeling bad about it, I am sure it would help if he could apologise at least."

"I'll call her later. Why don't I go get some dinner then I'll come back and take over here?" He asked his Dad, he was aware that Alan had been there all day.

"That would be good son. I promised to stay until he woke up anyway."

"See you later then Dad, I'll call the others and let them know what's going on."

Alan turned back into the room to take his seat by Colby, he was still there when he woke up.

"Hey, how you feeling?"

"A bit better, thanks for staying."  
"I promised you I would. Feel up to eating something?"

Colby nodded and Alan went to find a nurse and came back a few minutes later with a plate of food that was trying to look like macaroni cheese.

"I'll bring you something in from home tomorrow."

Alan used the controls for the bed to sit Colby up and he managed to eat a little of what was put before him. They talked for a little while and Alan told him about Don coming in soon and that they were going to ensure that someone was with him at all times, if necessary until the nightmares stopped. Colby had seriously thought he needed to be on his own, having Alan around today had proved him wrong, he was happy to accept the support being offered.


	29. 10 Friends Relax

**Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Once again Sammy and Jenny are mine.**

Chapter Twenty Nine – 10 Friends Relax

Don knocked on the door and popped his head round. "OK to come in?" he asked.

"Yeah, course." Replied Colby, shifting position slightly in the bed. His movement was extremely restricted thanks to his leg being in traction which meant getting comfortable could be a challenge.

"I'm going to stay with you for a bit, then David is going to come in, if that meets with your approval?"

"I appreciate it, thank you." Colby was humbled by the support once more.

"I have spoken to Sammy." Don chuckled at the look of fear that crossed his junior agent's face. He had seen him face down armed felons, the thought of dealing with the angry paediatrician obviously caused him more concern than that. "Don't look so worried, she is going to pop by tomorrow and see you."

"Can I get some protection?" Asked Colby only partly joking.

"You'll be fine, I promise."

"Right I'm off, I'll see you tomorrow night Colby. Bye son."

"Thanks again Alan." Said Colby as the man got up and left.

Don took his father's place in the chair by the bed. He took the opportunity to fill Colby in on the clean up operation that they had carried out on Xavier's dealers. Caught between a rock and a hard place the man had started singing like a canary on crack. Nobody had been able to locate Jasmine, they didn't believe that she was a threat to Colby given that it was because of her they had found him in time. Charlie would have found him eventually, but it would probably have been too late. Eventually Colby's eyes became heavy, Don seeing this used the controls to lay him flatter. "Get some sleep man, I'll be here."

Like Alan he was up every couple of hours talking Colby down after nightmares. When David took over in the early hours of the morning he had just settled back down after a particularly nasty one which had caused the nursing staff to insist on a sedative. Even with the aid of medication Colby was still restless in his sleep and David was on hand if needed. They could only hope that the nightmares would fade in time.

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The next morning Colby was sitting up and eating his breakfast when Sammy arrived. He looked nervously from David to the woman, still remembering how angry she had been when he last saw her.

David stood up and rested his hand on his partner's shoulder. "It's alright man, I'll take all the sharp objects out of the room."

Colby shot him an unamused look, as did Sammy. Deciding that now would be a good time to take his leave he bid them farewell and left them to it.

"I am so sorry. I never meant to lose my temper with Jenny."

"I know that Colby, but she doesn't understand, she is 8 years old."

"There is nothing I can say, I wish I could take it back, but I can't."

Sammy laid her hand on his. "Don told me about the nightmares. I think you're punishing yourself enough."

"How is she?"

"Just fine, kids bounce back quickly. She wanted to come and see you, but I thought it best if I spoke to you first. That can't happen again."

"It won't, I promise. Please bring her in again."

"OK, but I'm going to leave it a bit longer. I want to make sure you're strong enough to cope with a chattering little girl, believe me she's got even more to tell you now."

"Understood." The conversation then turned to other subjects and the pair relaxed.

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Two weeks later Colby got the news he had been so desperately waiting for, he was allowed to have the frame off, which would mean he would be able to get out of bed. His muscles had become weak from laying around, but he was ready to start therapy and was fully prepared to throw himself into it whole heartedly.

The very next day the frame was removed and though sore he had his first session. It was lengthy and he was given a long list of exercises for both legs and his arm, but he was determined to get back on his feet quickly.

Thanks to Don, Megan, Liz, David, Alan, Charlie and Sammy, he was never alone. He was still having nightmares but they were getting more manageable, though Sammy still hadn't allowed Jenny in to see him again, he had spoken to her on the phone to apologise. Like most children she was very forgiving and chatted away happily.

He had just finished another gruelling therapy session, he had only been out of traction a few days, but his therapist was happy with his progress and had already seen some improvement in his strength. He collapsed back onto his pillows, the sessions were leaving him exhausted. There was a knock on the door, David had been sitting with him but had gone for something to eat whilst he had the therapy, he assumed it was him returning. "Yeah." Colby said. The door opened but it wasn't David, it was Jenny.

"Thought you could do with a bit of a boost after your session." Remarked Sammy from behind her. "What better than a visit from an energetic 8 year old?" She smiled.

Jenny approached the bed cautiously. "Hey Jenny, you want to sit up on the bed?" Colby asked. She looked at her Mom who nodded and she clambered up to sit next to him. "Tell me all you've been up to then."

Jenny happily chattered away, telling him about her school play, they were doing a modern day version of Cinderella, she was very excited because she was playing one of the ugly sisters.

"How can that be?" He asked. "You're not ugly."

"They put stick on warts on me, it's cool."

"Wow. When is it? If I'm outta here I want to come and see it."

"It's not for a few weeks yet. Will you really come?" She asked, pleased.

"If I can get the doctors to release me by then, you bet."

Sammy was happy to duck out and leave them for a bit, she could tell that Colby wouldn't upset her daughter again. She went in search of David in the hospital cafeteria, where she filled him in on the play and Colby's determination to be fit enough to attend.

"Well that will be a good incentive to keep him going with the physical therapy."

"That was the plan."  
"Sneaky!"

"I spend too much time with all of you!" She replied.

"Shall we go back up?"

Sammy looked at her watch. "Yeah, I think she's probably talked his ear off by now."

When they got back to the room they exchanged amused glances, both Colby and Jenny were fast asleep.

"Seems a shame to wake them. I'll stay if you want to get off."

"That's OK, I can stay too, keep you company."

They both took a seat in the room and carried on a whispered conversation so as not to disturb the sleeping pair. Before they knew it three hours had passed.

"Oh, look at the time, I had better wake her, she won't sleep tonight. Need to get her dinner as well."

"He hasn't had any nightmares and he's been asleep more than 3 hours."

"That's progress. I guess her visit helped him relax."

"Lets hope it continues."

Sammy got up and gently shook Jenny awake. Colby stirred and opened sleepy eyes, he smiled at Jenny and gently planted a kiss on her forehead. "Drop by again soon sweetie."

"Bye Colby." She waved over her mother's shoulder as she carried the sleepy child out.

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The nightmares had finally stopped. After falling asleep with Jenny they were less frequent, now he could spend the night alone without waking in a cold sweat. He had told his friends that they no longer needed to spend the night, they all saw this as a positive step in his long road to recovery.

He had spent the last 2 weeks bugging his physical therapist about being able to leave the hospital so he could go to Jenny's play, which was now only a week away. The therapist wasn't budging, he was not releasing Colby from the hospital until he could get about on crutches unaided. Once he was doing this they would discuss it, until then he was going nowhere.

Unbeknownst to the therapist Colby had been doing extra exercises on his own, not so much that he overdid things, but enough to speed up his recovery. The beginning of the third week a very smug Colby managed the length of the hospital corridor on his crutches, unaided, he then turned to his therapist. "Can I get out of here now?"

"Not yet, I have to discuss it with your doctors. We need to assess your home for suitability as well."

At this Colby's heart sank, no way were they going to let him out to return to his apartment building, it had no lift. It was a subdued Colby that returned to his room, he sat in a chair staring out at the streets of LA below. He was completely lost in thought when Alan and Charlie entered the room.

"Now there is a man with something on his mind. What's up?" Asked Alan.

"Hey guys. Nothing much."

"Come on man, you can tell us."

"I managed to walk the length of the corridor on crutches, unaided today."  
"That's great news, why the long face?"

"I was told they would think about releasing me when I could get about on my own, but the therapist just told me that they will need to assess my apartment for suitability first. With no lift I can't see them letting me out." He sighed.

Alan and Charlie exchanged a look that went unnoticed by the despondent Colby. "We have a proposal that may help with that." Stated Charlie.

"Going to install a lift in my building?"

"No, we want you to come and stay with us. We can put you in the solarium, I know there are still stairs, but they're much more manageable than the ones at your apartment."

"Really? You mean it?"

"Charlie and I have discussed it and we would be happy to have you stay until you can manage on your own."

"Man, I dunno what to say."

"How about yes?"

"Yes, most definitely yes, thank you."

"I will go and discuss the arrangements with your doctor and therapist." Alan said before leaving.

"Don knows about this doesn't he?"  
"Of course."

"He doesn't mind?"  
"Not at all, he encouraged it, he thinks he might get you back to work quicker if you're out of here, apparently the paperwork is building up with one less team member."

Colby chuckled at that. "He thinks I'll help with that?!"

"Go figure. Perhaps he plans to get you back whilst your still on crutches so he can take 'em away to stop you leaving your desk!"

That had them both laughing. It was good to laugh, thought Colby.

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The following week Colby bid a happy farewell to all the hospital staff and was escorted from the premises by Alan, who then drove him to Charlie's house. After an assessment and a few minor changes to the layout of the rooms he had got the green light to stay at the Craftsman. The therapist had spent the last week showing him how to traverse the stairs safely. It would be another few weeks before he was walking without the crutches, but the therapist would continue seeing him on a regular basis until he had his full mobility back. Considering that there was a time when everyone had thought he wouldn't even survive he had made a remarkable recovery. When he was asked about it by one of the nurses he simply told her that it was all down to the support network he had, there was no better medicine than friends.

The first night he was out was the same as Jenny's play. Sammy had got tickets for everyone, including Amita and Larry. Don came by in his SUV to pick up Colby, Alan and Charlie, he thought that it would be easier for the injured agent to get in and out of, plus he could keep an eye on him and call time if it got too much.

Colby slowly made his way into the school hall and dissolved into laughter as he saw the seats they were expected to sit on.

"If I don't break it then I'll not be able to get up." The seat was from the children's classrooms which meant they were small and low to the floor.

Sammy hurried over to greet the men, knowing that Colby would struggle with the seating, she had arranged for them to sit to one side and retrieved one of the teachers chairs for him to use. He smiled at her gratefully, he didn't want to humiliate himself by falling off a chair.

David, Megan, Larry, Liz and Amita were already there. Taking their seats they waited for the play to begin. Being that the play was being performed by a bunch of children it had the expected hiccups, wardrobe malfunctions and lines forgotten, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and they gave a standing ovation at the end.

A very excited Jenny came running out when they had finished. She managed to stop short as she barrelled towards Colby, remembering that he was still unsteady on his feet.

"Hiya sweetie, you were just fabulous dahling." He smiled down at her.

"Did you think so? Really?"

"Absolutely." The others nodded in agreement.

"Right, who is up for a BBQ at ours?" Asked Charlie.

"Oh no, we couldn't." Said Sammy.  
"Course you can, we've already bought the food." Chipped in Alan, he loved having people over.

"Please Mommy?" Jenny looked at her Mom with large blue eyes, Sammy sighed and caved in.

Everyone was persuaded and they got into their cars and drove to the house, Sammy paused to see if Colby needed any help, but he was quite adept with the crutches as long as nobody knocked into him.

Colby made his way through the house to the back garden, Jenny walked with him, not leaving his side, if they were together she was his constant companion, reining in her own natural exuberance. He sat down in one of the chairs in the garden with a sigh. Don looked at him through narrowed eyes, something that didn't go unnoticed by his ever watchful father.

"He's alright Donnie." He whispered.

"I'm just concerned about him, that's all."

"I understand that, but you need to let him decide if and when he's had enough. He'll tell you, I promise."

"How do you know?"

"It's part of the deal we have. He'll tell someone when he's tiring. I'm not carrying him up those stairs." He winked at his eldest before going and rescuing the grill from his youngest, Charlie was a great mathematician but wasn't so good at the BBQ.

Everyone sat enjoying the balmy LA evening. Jenny sat on Colby's lap careful not to hurt him. Sammy had protested when she climbed up, but was assured that she wasn't causing him any pain. He nestled her against his chest as she showed him a book she had brought with her. Putting his head down to hers he started reading it with her, eventually though, as much as she wanted to stay with him she was getting restless. David noticed and called out. "Jenny, why don't you come and practice some basketball, by the time Colby's off his crutches we'll have you ready to beat him at one on one."

She looked at Colby and when he nodded and smiled she carefully climbed from his lap and ran to join David until dinner was ready. They returned to the table laughing and ready to eat.

Don made sure that everyone had a drink, Colby joined Jenny with Orange juice, he was still on pain meds and wasn't allowed to drink alcohol. When everyone was finished Colby cleared his throat.

"I'd like to say something." Silence descended on the small group as they turned their attention to him. "I simply wanted to say thank you for your support these past months. I wouldn't be here without you." He looked round the group and lifted his glass. "To relaxing with friends and family."

The others raised their glasses, happy in the knowledge that Colby was well on his way to a full recovery and he would rejoin the team in due course.

**THE END!**

**There ya go. That's it. All done. I want to say thank you for your alerts and reviews. (Especially my very first reviewer - NaggingCube, without whom I may just have given up, the feedback kept me going!) I'm currently working on another story and hope that I will be able to post it soon. I will try to curtail the Colby whumping in the next one! Hopefully work will be going a bit smoother and he won't have to suffer!**


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